The Alternative Press

NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ - In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, The Alternative Press has been collecting information from our areas of coverage.  We will continue to provide information as it becomes available.  

Chatham:  As of 1:30 pm, charging stations are available at Library of the Chathams and the Commons Room at the Fire House.  Leaf collection has been suspended and a one time curbside brush pickup will begin Monday, November 5.  Limbs cannot exceed 4" in diameter; no leaves or bags will be picked up, and no tree parts cut by private companies will be picked up.  Leaf bags are available at the mulch site for residents.  Call JCP&L at 888 544-4877.  For transit and highway information call 511 or visit http://www.511.nj.org.

Mayor Bruce Harris and Mayor Nicole Hagner have issued the following message:

The Mayors request that home to home trick or treating be conducted on Saturday, November 3, 2012.  Parents are encouraged to accompany their children when trick or treating.  The Mayors recommend trick or treating be limited to daylight hours. There are many downed electrical wires. If parents permit children to trick or treat they should exercise caution, supervise the children and allow them to be out only during daylight hours.

Downed wires should always be considered to be “live.” STAY AWAY FROM ALL DOWNED WIRES. Do not approach or drive over a downed wire and do not touch anything which might be in contact with downed wires. Walking along streets without sidewalks is discouraged. When walking along the street please wear reflective clothing, stay on the shoulder or as close to the shoulder as possible. Parents should be reminded that areas in both communities are without power and that should be taken into consideration when choosing an area to walk.

Trick or treating scheduled for downtown Chatham tomorrow has been canceled.

Madison: Madison schools are closed tomorrow.  For more information, visit http://www.rosenet.org

Advisory: Travel ban lifted, Boro Hall open for warming/charging center. Please travel safe and OFF roads by 8pm.

Advisory: NO Garbage pickup tomorrow. Twice a week garbage pickup will resume THU, FRI, SAT.

Advisory: Madison Water Department reports the water is safe throughout town.

Advisory: Halloween (Trick or Treating) has been postponed. We hope to reschedule for this Saturday 11/3 2pm-6pm. Will confirm later in the week.

Millburn: (From the Superintendent of Schools)

Dear Millburn Families,

I hope this message finds you and your family as safe as can be expected in this  weather emergency.  By now you have most likely heard that our schools are closed for Wednesday October 31st. We continue to be in close contact with local emergency management officials in Millburn.   It is difficult to predict how the power restoration will go over the next few days.  As of noon today, official reports indicate many trees and lines down throughout town.   We obviously need power to be restored before we can have school again, but we also need the roads to be safe both in Millburn and for our staff members who come from outside Millburn.  There is a chance that schools will be closed for longer, but we are hesitant to make that call now because something could break free and if it does, we'd really love to get our students back in school.  So we will hold out hope on a daily basis.

As a result, we are going to make the decision about schools opening or closing on a day to day basis, given the uncertainty of power restoration and clean up progress.  Having said that, please know that we understand different people have different circumstances and of course your family's safety is the #1 priority.  We know you will make decisions based on what is best for your family, and we support those decisions 100%.  Once we get back in session, if there is anything the schools can do to help, please do not hesitate to ask.

Meanwhile, our facilities suffered some minor damage here and there but our crews are hard at work putting everything back together and we will continue to work in close cooperation with the Millburn emergency officials to make schools available as a shelter or a phone recharge center or anything else that may be needed.  The best way we can get through this is to work together as a team.

Lastly, we will continue to send out periodic updates through all available channels including online media outlets, radio stations,text and phone messages where available, Edline and any other way that we can think of. I am even starting to see the wisdom behind smoke signal training and or the Pony Express.  :-)  But in all seriousness, if we all share available information with neighbors and friends however we can, as best we can, we will get through this.

Sincerely,

Jim Crisfield

New Providence: From New Providence OEM: Almost all of NP out of power. For the safety our children, Trick or Treating is suspended until further notice. Our next update regarding Halloween festivities will be tomorrow, Wed. Oct. 31 @ 9AM.

Summit, New Providence, and Berkely Heights:

Most of Sandy is gone, but the aftermath is a large mess. The simple report is that all of our communities have major power outages, lots of wires that are down, trees that are either blown over, or have major branches in the streets. The state of emergency is still in effect.

Here's the latest that we've learned:

CURRENT NOON TIME NUMBERS OF ACCOUNTS AFFECTED BY THE STORM FROM THE JERSEY CENTRAL POWER AND LIGHT WEBSITE ...

• SUMMIT - 7,965
• NEW PROVIDENCE 4,852
• BERKELEY HEIGHTS 4,052

Much of Downtown Summit has power. A number of restaurants are open. We also understand that Dunkin Donuts is open in Berkeley Heights.

ALL MUNICIPAL OFFICES IN SUMMIT, NEW PROVIDENCE AND BERKELEY HEIGHTS ARE CLOSED. THE COUNTY OFFICES ARE CLOSED. STATE OFFICES ARE CLOSED.

THE BASIC RULE IS DON'T GO OUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO.

UNION COUNTY STATE OF EMERGENCY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM TONIGHT. ALL COUNTY BUILDINGS AND OFFICES ARE CLOSED AND ONLY ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL AND EMERGENCY RESPONDERS ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT FOR WORK.   Meals on Wheels and home delivery has been suspended for October 30.

SUMMIT MEDICAL GROUP: All Summit Medical Group locations are closed today. 

FROM SUMMIT CITY HALL:   SAFETY is the primary concern. Downed wires should be considered as energized. Live wires can be very dangerous.   A shelter is open at the Summit Middle School. Pets are allowed in a pet carrier.

FROM NEW PROVIDENCE:

1. If you are without power and need to charge your cell phone and or laptop you may do so at the Municipal Center. The newly installed generator assures that power will be available. Please bring your cell phone or laptop charger.

2. Important information is available: * Register for Code Red - on the home page of our web-site www.newprov.org. * NJ Statewww.ready.nj.gov. * Union County - Sign up for alert updates from the County www.ucfirstalert.org

3. If you lose power call JCP&L at 1-888-544-4877 and report it. Don't assume that they are aware of your specific outage. By reporting the outage, it will be registered.

4. The New Providence Police phone number is 908-665-1111. PLEASE USE 9-1-1 FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY.

FROM BERKELEY HEIGHTS MAYOR JOE BRUNO :

** Travel should be restricted today to allow emergency personnel and utility crews the opportunity to assess the damage and begin the clearing process and repairs. Utility crews will not begin repairs until the wind subsides below 25 mph. Power may be out 7-10 days in some areas.

** During ANY cleanup around your home DO NOT approach or attempt to handle ANY DOWN WIRES. Assume all wires are live until confirmed and cared for by the appropriate authorities. Report any down wires.

• For current information here are a few websites that should have handy: NJ State Sitewww.ready.nj.gov , County Site and to sign up for alert updates from both the County and Township www.ucfirstalert.org  and of course we will post updates on the Township website at www.berkeleyheightstwp.com
• If you lose power call JCP&L at 1-888-544-4877 and report it. Don't assume that they know, by calling it will be registered.  
• The Regular Police Number is 908 464-1111. PLEASE ONLY USE 911 FOR AN EMERGENCY.

If you should lose power contact JCP&L by calling 888-544-4877  (1-888-LIGHTSS) or at the 24/7 Power Center at outages at www.jcp-l.com.  The 24/7 Power Center features a dynamic on-line map that delivers fast and accurate outage information to desktops, smart phones and mobile devices. If you should need to power up your phone or computer Please feel free to come to Town Hall where we and charge up. Please review the alerts on UC First Alert or monitor the NOAA website at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov or the National Weather Service at http://www.weather.gov/nyc.

Any additional information will be distributed as soon as we receive it.