NJ-EMS

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Hudson County on Oct. 30, 2012.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Morris County Wednesday: What's open and closed, roads, power, shelters, more Hurricane Sandy aftermath Hurricane Sandy may have passed, but its effects remain. Most of the county's still without power, roads are still treacherous, most towns are calling off trick-or-treating, and there's damage everywhere. MORRIS COUNTY: We'll be continuously updating the live blog below with updates as we get them. Bookmark this page to stay up to date through the recovery. WEDNESDAY • 11:12 a.m.: Katie Zawistoski said Budd Lake has been without power as of 7 p.m. Monday and says its unclear when power will be restored. Zawistoski says she has not seen JCP&L truck, only tree trucks. • 10:58 a.m.: Kelli Hunter said there is partial power in Florham Park. According to Hunter, her townhouse development on Park Street has not had power since 8:30 p.m. Monday, but traffic lights are functioning about two blocks away. "Hoping power travels our way soon," Hunter said. "It's so cold!!" • 10:55 a.m.: The Butler Electric Department, which also supplies Kinnelon and Bloomingdale with power, and the Madison Electric Utility have suffered complete outages in their coverage areas since Monday. • 10:55 a.m.: Downed wires on Route 206 in both directions between CR 512/Pottersville Road in Peapack-Gladstone and NJ 24/CR 513/West Main St in Chester Township have been cleared. • 10:50 a.m.: Tim Lake said Lake Hiawatha has been completely without power including street lights and traffic lights since Monday around 7:30 p.m. No sight of JCP&L trucks at all since the storm hit, he said. • 9:45 a.m.: Devin Leigh Michaels of Bloomingdale uses Butler Power and Light, a municipal power utility, and says the "entire town is currently out of power and has been since 6:41 P.M. on Monday." • 9:15 a.m.: Morristown police say to avoid Morris Street due to heavy congestion, possibly storm-related. • 9 a.m.: Parsippany has lifted its state of emergency, but is still banning motor vehicle traffic. Police say if you must travel to get food or for an emergency, you should travel during daylight hours and be extremely cautious. Live wires are still down, trees are still falling, and many traffic signals are out. • 8:45 a.m.: You may have seen an update saying we were putting this live blog aside. Change of plans. We're still getting a lot of urgent news that we want to get to you quickly, so we're keeping this running through Wednesday, maybe beyond. Sorry for the confusion. • 8:40 a.m.: The Rockaway Township Police Department advises residents to plan alternate routes around the following streets, which remain closed until further notice. • 8:09 a.m.: The Stop and Shop Supermarket in Madison is now open for business and is expecting regular food deliveries, according to the Madison Police Department. • 7:15 a.m.: Updated power outages: Jersey Central Power & Light's outage map indicates that 166,000 Morris County customers are still without power — approximately 85 percent of customers within the county. Towns reporting 100 percent outages Wednesday morning through JCP&L include Chatham Borough, Harding, Lincoln Park, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, Netcong, Mine Hill, Mount Arlington and Victory Gardens. Only a handful of customers from Butler, Kinnelon and Madison use JCP&L, instead residents of those towns utilize smaller, municipal utilities for power. Public Service Electric & Gas has not indicated any changes in East Hanover and Lincoln Park on their power outage map, where less than 500 customers in each municipality use the utility. • 6:20 a.m.: Updated school closings. Police reported yesterday that Rockaway Township schools and the Morris Hills Regional School District would be closed Wednesday. • 5 a.m.: Various roads have reopened in Jefferson, Boonton, Chatham Township and Morristown, according to the Morris County Office of Emergency Management. • Midnight: Morris Township, like many other communities, is asking trick-or-treaters to hold off until Saturday because of downed trees and power lines. Officials plan to issue a new advisory Friday, saying whether it's safe. TUESDAY • 9:15 p.m.: Jefferson man killed when tree falls on his house • 9:15 p.m.: Police ID couple killed in Mendham Township crash as Richard & Elizabeth Everett • 9:15 p.m.: About 166K still in the dark in Morris County, thanks to Hurricane Sandy • 9:14 p.m.: Denville, too, is asking residents to delay trick-or-treating until Saturday. • 9:10 p.m.: The Morris Plains Community Center, on Jim Fear Drive is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily as a warming and charging center. For more on shelters and warming or charging centers, see here. • 6:50 p.m.: Sarah Deaton of Cedar Knolls says she has power — and supplies she doesn't need. If you have need of any of the following, e-mail morris@nj.com, and we'll pass the word along. Be warned, though — it might not take long before someone lays claim to these helpful goods: We have 10 gallons of unopened drinking water, 18.5 gallons of tap water, 21 pounds of ice and 20 pounds of propane." • 6:20 p.m.: And here it is: (Mostly) complete list school closings for Morris County Wednesday • 6:10 p.m.: Parsippany schools will be closed tomorrow. We're working to bring you a comprehensive list of school closings any minute now, as well. • 6:05 p.m.: We're continuing to make updates and tweaks to our shelters list. If you think we missed one, click through and tell us in the comments. • 5:50 p.m.: Madison is asking residents to be off of roads by 8 p.m. Borough Hall is open as a warming and charging center. • 5:40 p.m.: Lots of roads are closed in Rockaway Township. See our running list. • 5:10 p.m.: Parsippany residents had to evacuate the Lake Hiawatha School, which was being used as a shelter, after half of one wing lost its roof from Hurricane Sandy's winds. • 5:05 p.m.: We're continuing to add road closures to our running list. Click through and tell us what you're seeing. • 5 p.m.: All Rockaway Township schools are closed Wednesday, as is Morris Hills Regional School District. • 5 p.m.: Rockaway Township is asking residents to put off trick-or-treating until Nov. 3. Dangerous wires may still be down, so police ask parents to complete trick-or-treating that day by sundown. • 5 p.m.: Rockaway recycling will resume on your the scheduled pick up date • 5 p.m.: Montville Police will be opening comfort stations at the local firehouses. The buildings are generator-equipped and capable of providing charging for electronic equipment. The stations are located at Montville Fire Department Station No. 1, 106 Taylortown Road, and Towaco Station No. 1 at 27 Whitehall Road, Towaco. There will be overnight accommodations for residents in dire need at Pine Brook Fire Station No. 1, 47 Old Bloomfield Ave. Space is limited. A pet-friendly comfort station will be available at Cedar Hill School, 46 Pine Brook Road, Towaco. Residents can stay and charge their devices as well as relax with their pets. All of these stations opened today at 2 p.m. • 4:50 p.m.: Madison Water Department reports the water is safe throughout town • 4:40 p.m.: Madison police say not to place brush, trees and limbs curbside for the next two weeks. Streets need to be clear for electric utility repairs. • 4:40 p.m.:Madison police have also announced Halloween trick-or-treating is postponed. They're aiming to reschedule for Saturday, 2 to 6 p.m. • 4:40 p.m.: From Wharton PD: "Halloween has been postponed to Friday the 2nd as a result of downed wires. The safety of our children comes first. We are hopeful that all live downed wires will be resolved by Friday. The School will also be providing information through the school notification system." • 4:20 p.m.: Parsippany remains under a state of emergency, and driving on township roads remains restricted, likely through tomorrow. Halloween trick-or-treating has been postponed until further notice. There will be no garbage, recycling or yard waste pickup on Wednesday. All township pffices will be closed on Wednesday. Non-essential township employees are not to report for work on Wednesday. Parsippany water department is still operating using backup generators. Residents should conserve water until full power is restored to the infrastructure. Call 911 only if you have an emergency. • 4 p.m.: Chatham Township Halloween Trick or Treating has been rescheduled for Saturday, noon to 5 p.m., police say. • 4 p.m.: Chatham borough refuse collection will resume normal pickup on Thursday and Friday. • 3:30 p.m.: All Roxbury Township Public Schools and offices will be closed Wednesday. • 1:19 p.m.: Kiel School in Kinnelon has been opened as a shelter for phone charging, warming, hot beverages, sanitary and sleeping facilities. Enter around back through glass doors. Donations of K cups, air mattresses and sleeping bags would be helpful at Kiel school. • 12:50 p.m.: Parsipanny schools will remain closed Wednesday. • 12:46 p.m.: A downed tree on Route 80 West at the ramp for Exit 42 — Route 202/Littleon Road in Parsippany has been cleared. • 12:40 p.m.: The shelter at Lake Hiawatha Elementary School has been closed, but a warming/portable electronics shelter has been set up at Littleton School at 51 Brooklawn Drive as of 12:30 p.m. Parsippany Animal Control is also standing by at that location and are prepared to take care of pets of Parsippany residents. Enter the center by accessing the gymnasium entrance in the rear of the building. The center will remain open as long as Parsippany residents require any assistance. If you are traveling to the center, be careful as there are still many uncontrolled intersections and live wires as well as trees in the roadway. • 11:42 a.m.: Madison schools will remain closed tomorrow following Hurricane Sandy's devastation. Residents are advised to stay indoors, according to the Madison Police Department. • 11:20 a.m.: Fallen trees have closed lanes on Route 124 in Madison, Route 46 in Roxbury and Exit 1W on Route 280 in Parsippany. • 11:15 a.m.: Morristown's planning a press conference at noon. We'll be there to catch up on how things are in the county seat. • 11:15 a.m.: We're still hearing from multiple towns urging everyone to stay off the roads. Things are rough out there. • 11 a.m.: Shelter at Mennen arena waiting for onslaught — if it comes. • 10 a.m.: Dover lifted its state of emergency but approximately 60 percent of the town is without power, Public Safety Director Richard Rosell said. The Rockaway River did not flood, he said. • 8:44 a.m.: Municipal officials in Morris County indicated that the area did not suffer significant flooding during Hurricane Sandy, unlike Tropical Storm Irene, but were instead devastated by punishing winds. • 8:22 a.m.: Dover Public Safety Director Richard Rosell said the town had closed its shelter at the high school. • 8:09 a.m.: About 2.4 million New Jersey residents are without power Tuesday morning following heavy winds and rain which toppled trees, knocked over utility poles and downed power lines. In Morris County, 172,000 out of 198,000 JCP&L customers are without power, while PSE&G reports a smaller number of outages in East Hanover and Lincoln Park. • 6:30 a.m.: The Morris County OEM and the Montville Police Department have released an updated list of shelters operating within the county. However, Morris Knolls High School in Denville is currently inaccessible due to road closures. • 6:30 a.m.: A state of emergency remains in effect in Parsippany. Driving is prohibited by order of the police department due to fallen wires, downed trees and hazardous roadway conditions. • 5:30 a.m.: More updates on road closures and advisories as of 5:30 a.m. • 5:00 a.m.: We're working on an updated list of shelters and road closures for you. The winds have died down significantly, but most authorities still advise or require staying off the roads. Downed wires, including live wires, are still everywhere, and wind gusts are strong. • 4:50 a.m.: JCP&L was showing 86 percent of its Morris County customers affected Monday morning — nearly 167,00 of the 196,000 people it serves in Morris. Most towns. PSE&G, however, showed only very small outages in the small parts of Morris it serves, focused in Lincoln Park and East Hanover. • 4:50 a.m.: Hurricane Sandy: Morris County's 911 center got 3,000 calls Monday • 11:58 p.m.: Montville has opened its shelter at Montville High School, police said. However, it's limited, and should be considered a last-resort, police said. • 11:21 p.m.: More than 24 Morristown homes have been damaged by falling trees. • 9:50 p.m.: A man and a woman were killed when a tree fell on their pickup truck in Mendham Township. Two children in the backseat survived with non-life-threatening injuries. MONDAY: New Jersey newspapers suspend Tuesday delivery as Hurricane Sandy nears