20K Remain Without Power As Toms River Cleans Up After Isaias

TOMS RIVER, NJ — More than 20,000 Toms River homes and businesses remained without electricity on Wednesday afternoon, 24 hours after Tropical Storm Isaias tore through New Jersey, bringing down thousands of trees and power lines.

Wind gusts up to 70 mph were recorded in Toms River as Isaias moved through, according to the National Weather Service. Toms River police dispatchers received more than 300 calls between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., with reports of trees down, wires hanging or arcing, traffic lights out, transformer issues, road hazards, smoke conditions and more, the department said.

"Crews are working tirelessly to get everyone up and running as soon as possible," Toms RIver police said in a post on Facebook at 4 p.m. "Please continue to be patient while they are working quickly to restore everyone’s power. Unfortunately due to the extent of the damage this process could take a few days."

In neighboring towns, Beachwood had 378 homes without power, and South Toms River had 453. Seaside Park had 1,764, nearly 65 percent of the customers in the borough. Lavallette had 347, and Island Heights had 181 homes without electric service as of 4 p.m.

State officials said it may take until the end of the weekend for electric service to be restored throughout the state, because of the extent of the damage. Even the electric transmission system suffered significant damage, said Joseph Fiordaliso, president of the state Board of Public Utilities. Read more: NJ Power Restoration May Take Until End Of The Weekend: Official

JCP&L officials have not given a specific estimate of when power might be fully restored. In the interim, the company will begin distributing free water and ice to its customers affected by the outages. ShopRite of Fischer Bay and ShopRite on Route 37, along with the Acme in Ortley Beach will have water and ice available for pickup.

The company said customers should report any service interruptions — even if you believe it's been reported — because customer reports help identify damage locations and restore power faster. Call 888-544-4877, or text OUT to 544487.

Click here to get Patch email notifications, or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app. Download here. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.