Madison Officials: 'Expect a Lengthy Power Outage'

The is being used as a warming station Saturday night as officials say they are "doing everything possible" to restore power and open closed streets.

According to a Nixle alert sent out Saturday night at about 11 p.m., the two JCP&L feeders that supply the Kings Road substation are out.

"There is NO estimate when power will be restored," the alert read.

"We will keep you informed as soon as we learn anything new," the alert read. "Expect a lenghtly power outage."

Trees and wires are down on Ridgedale Avenue, and a borough truck was on the scene Sunday morning. Many trees and branches are down along Main Street ahd throughout town.

Madison Administrator Ray Codey had this message for residents Saturday afternoon: "Stay home. It's bad out there."

According to Codey, numerous trees were down in the borough as early as Saturday afternoon.

The Madison Area YMCA closed at 4 p.m., and asked members to call on Sunday in case they have a delayed opening. The Madison YMCA also closed early "due to downed power lines and trees," according to Amie Wright, a library employee.

DPW Superintendent David Maines was not immediately available for comment. Mayor Mary-Anna Holden said she knew of at least one collapsed tree in the downtown area.

"There are a lot of limbs down. ... I'm seeing sagging power lines, and the trucks won't even be able to get up the street," Holden said. "It could be worse than the hurricane."

Holden said she plans to release a Nixle alert, and will have the school district reverse-call residents advising parents to keep children indoors.

The Nixle alert went out at 3:41 p.m. Saturday instructing residents to stayaway from downed utility lines. "There are trees and wires down throughout the [b]orough. Stay off the roads and inside if at all possible," the alert read.

"We've got a lot of high winds coming tonight. Maybe it'll shake a lot of this off the trees, but there could be a lot of damage," Holden said.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for all of Morris County, with 5 to 8 inches expected in Madison.

According to WeatherSource, a trace of snow has been recorded at the Boonton measuring station 15 times in October since 1950. The last time it happened was on Oct. 4, 1987. As much as one-half inch was recorded on Oct. 18, 1972 at the Plainfield measuring station.

Patch will continue to provide updates throughout the storm. What does it look like in your neighborhood? Let us know in the comments and upload your own photos to this post.