UPDATE 7:30PM: Schools Closed Wednesday, Trick-or-Treating Postponed

For instant Hurricane Sandy updates, follow New Providence-Berkeley Heights Patch on Facebook and Twitter.

Update: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.

Today, the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy revealed just how powerful this storm was and just how long the restoration process will likely take for all of us.

Tonight, thousands are still without power across New Jersey and New York, and JCP&L is telling towns throughout New Jersey that it could be 7 to 10 days before power is restored to residents.

School is canceled for tomorrow, Oct. 31, in New Providence, Berkeley Heights and Mountainside. In addition, all Halloween activities for tomorrow have been postponed until further notice.

The number of power outages in New Providence and Berkeley Heights has gone down since 12:35 p.m. today. Here are the latest outage numbers from the JCP&L power outage map, as of 7:20 p.m.:

• New Providence – 3,911
• Berkeley Heights – 3,413
• Mountainside – 335

Outages in nearby communities as of 7:20 p.m. today:

• Summit - 8,602
• Chatham Township - 4,393
• Chatham Borough 3,630
• Long Hill Township - 3,786
• Springfield - 7,074
• Warren - 5,204

At this time, A&P Supermarket in New Providence is open, but may not be operating under normal business hours yet. Also, Kings Food Market in Berkeley Heights and Short Hills is also open. However, residents should NOT leave their homes unless it is an absolute emergency.

Mountainside Update

Mountainside Police Captain Richard Osieja said there are still numerous trees and wires down throughout the borough tonight.

“Summit Road is now clear, it was blocked earlier, leading directly to Overlook Hospital,” Osieja said. “New Providence Road is blocked by the intersection of Appletree and Orchard Road. It is impassable at that intersection so we telling everyone to go up Summit Road if they have to get to the Summit/New Providence Area.”

Osieja said there haven’t been any PSE&G crews in town yet.

“I’m sure they are going town by town. This is a major, major problem and people should be prepared to be without power for an extensive time period,” Osieja said.

New Providence Update

New Providence Police Sgt. Dan Henn said countless roads are blocked as a result of the storm.

Major roads, such as Springfield Avenue, South Street and Mountainside Avenue, are still blocked by downed trees and power lines.

“Literally, the town is just peppered with road blocks with the side streets and what not,” Henn said. “We advised everybody that we’re still in a State of Emergency and that they shouldn’t be moving throughout town until that State of Emergency is lifted. It’s difficult to traverse through town. It’s difficult getting out of town and into Berkeley Heights or Summit or Mountainside, and surrounding towns. The safest thing, especially with nightfall now, is to just stay at home until the State of Emergency has been lifted and a lot of these roads get cleaned up.”

Henn said a power restoration timeline has not been issued to New Providence by JCP&L yet.

“We haven’t heard anything specific. The last I talked to Mayor Hern about it was the obligatory 7 to 10 days that they’re telling everybody,” Henn explained. “It’s not just New Providence; they’re telling Berkeley Heights that, they are telling Summit that. We’ve seen a couple spots in town pop up with power but nothing substantial.”

Henn said much of the downtown business area is still without power, limiting the number of businesses open at this time.

“The small number of businesses that seem to be able to get up and running are doing so on a limited basis,” Henn explained. “So it’s safe to say that business community is being affected as much as the residential community.”

On a brighter note, Henn said New Providence has not sustained any major flooding.

“The brooks leading into the Passaic River were at pretty low levels. It wasn’t a significant rain event in the sense that it dumped massive amounts of water in a short amount of time,” he said. “So flooding was kept to a minimum.”

Henn said while they received some calls for medical help during the storm last night, they were not storm-related injuries.

The New Providence Municipal Center will still be open tonight and into tomorrow. While Henn didn’t know exactly how many people were in this temporary shelter tonight, he said residents have been filing in and out all day.

The following information was prepared for the members of the Suburban Chamber of Commerce and the New Providence Business Community (NP Business and Professional Association and the New Providence Downtown Improvement District) by Organization Resources, LLC:

Not much change since our earlier update at Noon. Don't travel, if you don't have to. Night time will be even more treacherous, as you may not see the downed wires when driving or walking.

Here's are the latest updates:

CURRENT 4 p.m. NUMBERS OF CUSTOMERS EFFECTED BY THE STORM FROM THE JERSEY CENTRAL POWER AND LIGHT WEBSITE ...

• SUMMIT - 8,602
• NEW PROVIDENCE - 4,899
• BERKELEY HEIGHTS - 4,007

FROM OVERLOOK HOSPITAL: All inpatient, emergency and radiology services are open. Most outpatient services are open, however, please call ahead to make sure.

SUMMIT MEDICAL GROUP:All Summit Medical Group locations are closed today. Their next update will be tonight at 7 pm or so on their website. http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/

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

SUMMIT TRASH COLLECTION WILL RESUME ON WEDNESDAY.

 SHELTER / CHARGING STATION
 The Summit Middle School is open for those who need sheltering and will serve as a charging station.
Those displaced residents with pets, may bring their pets with pet carrier.

CLOSINGS
Summit Public School, Library, Community Center, YMCA, Connection are closed on Wednesday, October 31

OPENINGS
City Hall will be open on Wednesday, October 31
Most stores and restaurants are open in Downtown Summit

POWER OUTAGES
If you have lost power, you must contact JCP&L to report the outage by calling the automated reporting line at 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877) or 1-800-545-7736 or through JCP&L's website at www.jcp-l.com. 
Please do not call Police or 911.

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.

FROM NEW PROVIDENCE:

Halloween Trick-or-Treating scheduled for Wednesday in New Providence has been postponed. A new date will be announced.

The Farmer's Market for Wednesday has been cancelled.

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.

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.

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

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 Site www.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&Lby 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.govor the National Weather Service at http://www.weather.gov/nyc.

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

Editor's Note: We sincerely hope you, your families and your friends are safe and well in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

If you have ANY information and photos you can share about the damages to your neighborhood, please share them with us so we can share with your neighbors.

You can:

1. Email photos and info to caitlin.mahon@patch.com and we'll add them to directly to the Patch homepage. 

OR

2. Post your photos and information here for residents of New Providence, Berkeley Heights and Mountainside to see: http://patch.com/A-zc4x

OUR CONTINUOUS COVERAGE OF HURRICANE SANDY

We'll continue to provide you with as much information as we can in Hurricane Sandy wake in the New Providence, Berkeley Heights, Mountainside area.

To stay up-to-date on Sandy's aftermath and the long restoration process, be sure to bookmark this link. It contains every article published on New Providence-Berkeley Heights Patch about Hurricane Sandy: http://newprovidence.patch.com/topics/hurricane-sandy-in-new-providence-berkeley-heights-mountainside

For even more news and updates about Hurricane Sandy, subscribe to our free newsletter, "like" us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NewProvidencePatch or follow @NewProvPatch on Twitter. We will post upates on the storm as they become available.

Be safe, everyone!

Update: Tuesday, 12:45 p.m.

It seems restoration is going to be a slow and painful process for all of us in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

At 12:20 p.m. today, the New Providence Office of Emergency Management issued a Code Red Alert, announcing that trick-or-treating in New Providence has been suspended for tomorrow, Oct. 31.

"The majority of New Providence continues to be without power. For the safety of our children, trick-or-treating has been suspended until further notice," Police Chief Anthony Buccelli said in the message. "Our next Code Red update regarding Halloween festivities will be tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 9 a.m. Thank you."

Thousands are still without power in New Providence, Berkeley Heights and Mountainside.

As of 12:35 p.m. today, here are the latest outage numbers from the JCP&L power outage map:

• New Providence - 4,897
• Berkeley Heights - 4,042
• Mountainside - 335

Outages in nearby communities as of 12:35 p.m. today:

• Summit - 8,602
• Chatham Township - 4,439
• Chatham Borough 3,622
• Long Hill Township - 3,786
• Springfield - 7,029
• Warren - 5,202

The following information was prepared for the members of the Suburban Chamber of Commerce and the New Providence Business Community (NP Business and Professional Association and the New Providence Downtown Improvement District) by Organization Resources, LLC:

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 State www.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 Site www.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. 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.

Editor's Note: We sincerely hope you, your families and your friends are safe and well in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

If you have ANY information and photos you can share about the damages to your neighborhood, please share them with us so we can share with your neighbors.

Here are three options for you:

1. Email photos and info to caitlin.mahon@patch.com and we'll add them to directly to the Patch homepage. 

2. Post your photos and information here for residents of New Providence, Berkeley Heights and Mountainside to see: http://patch.com/A-zc4x

3. Add your photos and information here for residents all throughout New Jersey to see: http://patch.com/A-zfT7

OUR CONTINUOUS COVERAGE OF HURRICANE SANDY

We'll continue to provide you with as much information as we can in Hurricane Sandy wake in the New Providence, Berkeley Heights, Mountainside area.

To stay up-to-date on Sandy's aftermath and the long restoration process, be sure to bookmark this link. It contains every article published on New Providence-Berkeley Heights Patch about Hurricane Sandy: http://newprovidence.patch.com/topics/hurricane-sandy-in-new-providence-berkeley-heights-mountainside

For even more news and updates about Hurricane Sandy, subscribe to our free newsletter, "like" us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NewProvidencePatch or follow @NewProvPatch on Twitter. We will post upates on the storm as they become available.

Be safe, everyone!

Original Story from Tuesday Morning, 9 a.m.

Thousands upon thousands of residents are without power this morning in Hurricane Sandy's wake, due to transformer explosions, downed tree limbs and trees, and downed power lines.

According to the JCP&L power outage map, here are the number of outages in our communities as of 9 a.m.:

• New Providence - 4,850
• Berkeley Heights - 3,986
• Mountainside - 335

Outages in nearby communities:

• Summit - 7,937
• Chatham Township - 4,440
• Chatham Borough 3,621
• Long Hill Township - 3,786
• Springfield - 6,939
• Warren - 5,199

The PSE&G outage map, for any of their customers, cannot be accessed at this time.

The New Providence Police Department and Office of Emergency Management issued a Code Red Alert this morning around 8:50 a.m., asking all residents to avoid traffic, as a State of Emergency remains in effect.

"Please avoid travel, as many trees and live wires are down in the roadways. Almost the entire community is without power," Police Chief Anthony Buccelli said in the Code Red Alert message. "A shelter with generator power will remain open at the New Providence Municipal Center. Use the Academy Street entrance. Please be patient during cleanup and restoration efforts. The Police Department does not have the ability to expedite the restoration of power. Please call 9-1-1 for any and all emergencies. Thank you."

Berkeley Heights Fire Chief Anthony Padovano, the Berkeley Heights Office of Emergency Management Coordinator, issued a reverse 9-1-1 message this morning at 8:20 a.m. and said the OEM still has an emergency declaration in effect in the Township of Berkeley Heights.

"A travel ban is still enforced until further notice. This means that only emergency vehicles, such as police, fire, rescue squad and DPW vehicles are allowed out on the roadways," Padovano said. "The above mentioned agencies have been working all throughout the night, answering numerous calls for assistance and the opening up of roadways."

Padovano's request from residents: "Please stay indoors because many trees have fallen and many power lines are down. Do not touch any wires. Assume all wires are energized."

At this time, there are power outages all throughout Berkeley Heights, Padovano said, and many roadways are blocked.

"An overall damage assessment is underway," he said. "Stay tuned for further updated. Thank you and be safe."

The Garden State Parkway is now open but more than 200 other state roads remain closed, Governor Christie announced on his Twitter account. "Don't drive unless you absolutely have to," he said.