Power Returns To LBI, Crews Continue Work In Barnegat

BARNEGAT, NJ — Most of Long Beach Island regained power Wednesday afternoon, a day after Tropical Storm Isaias tore through the area. Crews continued working to restore electricity in Barnegat, where a majority hadn't regained power as of 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Nearly all of LBI lost power Tuesday because of the storm. Long Beach Township still has 1,055 customers without electricity as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to Atlantic City Electric. But ACE has nearly restored services for all customers in LBI's other municipalities.

ACE has also reported 185 customers remaining with outages in Stafford as of 5 p.m. Wednesday. The Motor Vehicle Commission facility in Manahawkin reopened. But many remain closed following the storm, including the Toms River location.

Southern Ocean County faced some of Tropical Storm Isaias's most severe weather in the Garden State. Officials reported gusts peaking at 109 mph on LBI, and the National Weather Service spotted a tornado in Barnegat. Read more: Tornado In Barnegat, Surflight Theatre Outdoor Theatre Destroyed

Barnegat still has 5,718 — 68 percent of customers — without power as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to Jersey Central Power & Light. Eight traffic signals remained out as of Tuesday evening. Barnegat police urged the public to drive slowly and pay extra attention to affected intersections.

JCP&L doesn't have precise restoration times for Ocean County, where 68,366 customers remain without power as of this update.

JCP&L is offering free water and ice to those without service. Local pickup locations include ShopRite on Route 9 in Waretown.

Three-thousand JCP&L workers are working to assess damage and restore power for about 569,000 customers, the company said at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Around 753,000 of their customers lost power during the storm.

Some of LBI might not regain power until 11 p.m. Saturday, according to ACE. See the outage map.

The storm impacted 209,000 ACE customers, but nearly 140,000 have regained power as of 10 a.m. Wednesday.

“We will continue to work around the clock until every customer is restored,” said ACE Regional President Gary Stockbridge. “This storm was incredibly destructive, and we will continue to keep our customers informed as we complete our assessments of the damage."

Officials kept most county parks closed Wednesday because of storm damage, including Wells Mills County Park and the Waretown section of the Ocean County Rail Trail.

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