The nor’easter that blew through the Hopewell Valley last Friday left a trail of downed trees and power lines – along with power outages – in its wake.
The storm kept the Hopewell Township Police Department busy, as officers answered more than 100 calls for help between 2 p.m. Friday and 2 a.m. Saturday, Chief of Police Lance Maloney said.
The police officers responded to a range of calls – from downed utility poles and wires and small fires sparked by arcing wires, to power outages, first aid calls, traffic accidents and fire and burglar alarms that were tripped by the storm.
Several roads – both major and minor – were closed because of downed trees and utility poles, but they were reopened later after crews cleared the trees and wires from the roadways.
Among the major roads that were closed were Crusher Road, and Hopewell-Princeton Road between Mount Rose and the Hopewell Borough border, Maloney said.
Cherry Valley Road, between Province Line Road and Mount Rose; Elm Ridge Road, off Carter Road; and Bull Run Road, off Federal City Road on the opposite side of the township were also shut down.
While those roads were reopened over the weekend, several roads were still blocked off Monday morning – Van Dyke Road, east of Route 518, and the Pennington-Titusville Road between Scotch Road and Scotch Road West. Maddock Road also was closed.
Traffic lights on Route 31 were non-functional overnight because of the downed power lines. The traffic lights began functioning Saturday morning, after power was restored to them, Maloney said.
Those downed power lines and utility poles also meant power outages for residents. Pennington Borough and Hopewell Borough residents lost power between Friday and Saturday, until the power was restored Saturday night.
In Hopewell Township, more than 1,100 customers of JCP&L were without electricity. By Sunday evening, crews had restored electricity to all but about 300 customers.
Hopewell Township also is served by PSE&G, some of whose customers also lost power. The crews had made progress in restoring power to large numbers of customers by Sunday, Maloney said.
JCP&L crews and PSE&G crews continued to work Monday to restore electricity to the remaining customers who were affected by the storm.
In the meantime, to accommodate residents whose homes were left without power, the lobby of the Hopewell Township Municipal Building and the meeting hall at the Union Fire Department in Titusville were opened to residents for a few hours on Saturday so they could keep warm and charge their electronic devices. The two buildings were kept open during business hours again on Monday for residents who still lacked electricity.
For residents who did not have power and access to running water, the Hopewell Township Health Department provided hoses for potable water at the Hopewell Township Department of Public Works, the Union Fire Department in Titusville, and the Hopewell Fire Department in Hopewell Borough. Residents had to bring their own containers. The three stations will remain open until power is restored.
JCP&L customers who were without electricity could get free bottled water and ice from the Pennington ShopRite at the Pennington Circle, and several ShopRite grocery stores in Hunterdon County.
Maloney thanked the fire and EMS volunteers for their help during the storm, which was a significant storm for the Hopewell Valley. He praised the first responders for doing an “excellent job.”