Mayor: High School May Be Opened to Residents

An extra 400 utility crews from different parts of the country came to assist New Jersey’s post-Hurricane Irene restoration process on Tuesday, aiding the personnel working around the clock since Sunday, Aug. 28, according to Washington Township Mayor Ken Short.

The process takes time, according to Washington Township Department of Public Works Superintendent Scott Frech.

First, JCP&L workers assess a situation, where a tree may be on power lines or a utility pole is completely down. When JCP&L determines the wires are no longer live, a tree removal company will come in and take care of the branches and trunks that have caused the issue.

At that point, JCP&L comes back to fix the lines and restore the power to that area.

According to Jersey Central Power & Light’s outage map, some 300 residences had power restored Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

More than 800 residences were restored between Monday and Tuesday, Short said.

Short said he would be speaking with Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Charlie Davidson Wednesday morning to determine if they would use West Morris Central as a shower facility for residents without power and water, dependent on the progress made by utility crews overnight.

The owner of Gold’s Gym in Hackettstown and Flanders announced this morning that one-day memberships have been reduced from $15 to $10 for through Sept. 5 for the use of gym and shower facilities. Gym personnel requests that you bring identification.

JCP&L has offered free ice and water to customers at the Hackettstown and Flanders Shoprite locations. For more on that, .

To see the most up-to-date report on Washington Township’s roads,