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Politics & Government

UPDATE: Focus Turns to Restoring Power to the Last Few Sections of Town

Fallen branches and trees complicate efforts.

Now that more than 95 percent of the borough has power, local crews are working on restoring power to the last few sections of town, said Madison Electric Superintendent Michael Piano.

Outages still remain at Stonehedge Lane, sections of Pomeroy and Garfield and at multiple individual residences, largely due to trees on downed power lines, Piano said.

Local crews will be working 16-18 hours to alleviate the situation, Mayor Mary-Anna Holden said, adding that “some of the stuff will take 2-3 weeks” to complete.

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Madison Police report that Shunpike Road will be closed at Noe Avenue until 8 p.m. tonight due to electric crews working in the area.

After JCP&L restored power to the Kings Road substation around 2 p.m. Monday, there were a “series of steps to go through to gradually bring everything back up right,” Piano said. Power restoration began to the largest areas of customers first.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The challenge, he said was in the “tremendous amount of branches and trees that impacted our lines.”

He added, “We’re a small crew. If we become exhausted, then it becomes a safety issue.”

When asked if there is any way to prepare for such an event, Piano declared, “When Mother Nature does something like this, there’s really nothing you can do.”

Clean-up efforts will begin at school property, Holden said. The borough is asking that residents put branches in bags (available for free from the town) or in their barrels or tie them up and place them on the curb.

“It’s going to take us a while to get around, but we will be there,” Holden said.

In other storm-related news:

  • Madison schools are scheduled to re-open Wednesday.
  • The Madison Public Library is open. Residents are invited to borrow DVDs or books or just get warm and charge their devices.
  • The Museum of Early Trades & Crafts “Investing in Our Children” fundraiser has been postponed until Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 6-9 p.m.
  • Drew University has announced that it will remain closed Wednesday because some buildings remain without power.

 

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