Bernards Power Outages Down to About 2,500 by Late Friday Morning

The number of power outages in Bernards Township had dropped to about 2,500 by late Friday morning, township officials said in a late morning meeting to update the latest changes and operations during the continuing job of recovering from Hurricane Sandy.

About 400 homes had been restored on Friday morning, the report said.

Power was being restored in some of the remaining pockets of darkness in Basking Ridge on Thursday night with the township saying the number of households with power outages reported by JCP&L had declined by 9 p.m. to about 2,992 — still above a quarter of the township, but a reduction from about 4,500 earlier in the day.

Power had been restored by then to the Bernards Township Police Department, Town Hall, and Ridge High School and at the municipal complext at 1 Collyer Lane. Although the town hall systems were fully online, the building remained cold, and some workers still were at the location.

By 6 p.m., power has been restored to the Mount Airy Road area of Kensington, Galloping Hill, Lake Road, Spencer Road and Woods End, the update said. The Lyons Road and Goltra Road area also reportedly had received power late on Thursday afternoon.

Power restoration was also reportedly due even after the 6 p.m. update along South Finley Avenue, from the Collyer Lane area down past Ridge High School.

Thousands still without power

Nevertheless, many substantial portions of the township, remained in darkness. Officials had said Thursday that Lord Stirling Village still had no power, and a comment on this article said that still was the case on Friday morning. Power outages also reportedly persisted in the part of Bernards north of Route 202.

That included West Millington and sections near Bernardsville, including Hardscrabble and Old Army roads.

Readers reported that Round Top Road in Bernardsville remained unattended and without power. Many broken utility poles reportedly still litter the roadway.

Spots remained in areas that seemed fully restored. Bernards Township Committeeman John Malay said earlier on Thursday that he still was getting phone calls from The Hills, where most of the large development had received power by Wednesday night.

Bernardsville Mayor Lee Honecker also was told by the president of JCP&L that the power company still is sticking to its deadline of having the borough back online by this weekend, according to the Bernardsville Borough website.

The update said that state Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-District 21), working with the Bernards Township Committee, had received information from JCP&L that there were at that time 88 First Energy Corp. line crews and several more tree crews deployed to the Bernards Township and Bernardsville area.

As temperatures dipped toward below freezing, Bernards Township officials had at a meeting earlier in the day outlined some of the safety precautions that residents should take during cold weather and power outages that have lingered since Hurricane Sandy struck on Oct. 29. Those who are still without power were urged to seek alternative shelter if possible on the cold night awaiting.

The Somerset Hills and all of Somerset County is being served by a shelter in the lower gymnasium at Bernards High School in Bernardsville, which will remain open even after Somerset Hills schools reopen on Friday.

Employees in the Bernards Township municipal building are working on bringing up necessary systems to service the public, the website said. The building may be open by 10 a.m. on Friday.