Bergen County: Over 100K Without Power After Isaias Pummels NJ

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Restoration efforts are underway as over 100,000 people are without power in Bergen County after tropical storm Isaias hit the area yesterday.

PSE&G reports 81,514 customers without power, and Orange & Rockland reports 31,767 customers affected as of 4:15 p.m. Both say it could take days to restore service.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer spoke with Fifth District mayors during a Tuesday night call, his office said.

"Many families throughout North Jersey are without power due to this tropical storm, and utility crews are currently responding and working to restore power. To all those working right now to help our communities respond, from mayors to first responders to utility workers, we thank you for all your efforts," said Gottheimer.

According to a statement from PSE&G, the company is calling in additional help to aid in their restoration efforts.

"Tropical Storm Isaias has caused power outages and we are responding safely and as quickly as possible. Additional personnel from out of state utilities are assisting our own crews," read the statement.

The company requested 1,700 additional workers from Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Nova Scotia, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, PSE&G announced that it has set up six "customer comfort" locations in affected areas, including one in Paramus. These stations will be stocked with free ice and water for customers, available until 5 p.m. Wednesday, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday.

Orange & Rockland, in a Tuesday news release, said storm damage from Isaias ranks second only to Superstorm Sandy.

"O&R estimates that today’s storm damage will rank second only to Superstorm Sandy --- at 250,000 customers affected --- in O&R history," said the company in a statement.

On Wednesday, the company said crews restored power to approximately 80,000 of its nearly 200,000 affected customers.

Over 150 additional contractor overhead line technicians are aiding today's efforts, which include restoring power to eight hospitals and more than 750 essential services customers who lost power, according to the company.

They are seeking an additional 750 technicians to aid restoration efforts.

Below are the outage numbers from PSE&G and Orange & Rockland as of 4:15 p.m.:

• Fair Lawn — 1,273
• Glen Rock — 1,367
• Hillsdale — 565
• Mahwah — 4,587
• Paramus — 2,515
• Ridgewood — 2,609
• Saddle Brook — 392
• Teaneck — 8,452
• Westwood — 3,796
• Wyckoff — 3,761

Yesterday, downed trees and overhead wiring issues suspended NJ Transit service, but service is expected to resume with weekend service on the Bergen County line today at 10 a.m.

Downed trees and tree limbs were a common theme across Bergen County as the rain moved through the area.

PSE&G said 253 tree trimming crews, including 643 workers, are responding to clear extensive tree damage from the storm.

According to Deputy Mayor of Teaneck Elie Y. Katz, a preliminary update on calls for service shows that the police department responded to 96 calls for downed trees, 85 calls for downed wires and multiple instances of out of service traffic signals.

In Hillsdale, many trees and some wires are down, and some streets are closed because of it, according to the Office of Emergency Management.

"Hillsdale’s FD, DPW, PD, EMS & OEM have been working non-stop to keep everyone safe, clear streets of trees & respond to numerous calls for service for all types of storm related issues," the office said on Twitter.

For those with generators, the office has released a message for best practices, and asks residents to avoid downed wires.

Downed trees and wires have also been reported in the Ridgewood area, as well as Wyckoff, where falling limbs crushed a mail truck. The driver was not in the truck at the time.