Berkeley Heights Proud of Storm Clean-Up Effort

With most of the cleanup from Hurricane Irene out of the way for the township of Berkeley Heights, township officials met at Tuesday night’s work session meeting of the Berkeley Heights Township Council to discuss the events that occurred before, during, and after the storm.

In a briefing to the council, Berkeley Heights Fire Department Chief Anthony Padovano stated that, while work remains to restore conditions to their pre-storm state, emergency services and the township worked together to deal with the storm in the most effective way possible.

“The long road that led up to the impact of Hurricane Irene allowed the Township to prepare extremely well with the resources we had to work with,” said Padovano, who also noted that all power has been restored to the township as of this past Sunday.

Berkeley Heights Mayor Joseph Bruno echoed Padovano’s sentiment.

“We up here (on the Township Council), and the Office of Emergency Management, we really do think that we did everything we could (during and after the hurricane),” said Bruno.

Both council members and residents alike were grateful for the township’s efforts to minimize Irene’s impact.

“Thank you to all the first responders and the DPW,” said Councilwoman Elaine Perna. “All of the people who left their homes probably left their families in a sorry state to go out and help others.”

Added resident Charlie Pratt, who had nothing but praise for the emergency response units that worked throughout the storm, “What I saw was people that, the night that they should have been home, they weren’t.”

Recovery from Irene’s destruction will continue on Wednesday, when Congressman Leonard Lance will host two area question-and-answer sessions. Residents will be invited to ask questions of FEMA officials in Springfield from 5-7 PM at Municipal Hall, located at 100 Mountain Avenue. The other will be held at the Cranford Public Library, located at 224 Walnut Avenue, from 6-8 PM.

Mayor Bruno also advised all Berkeley Heights resident to sign up for the Union County First Alert system. The free service sends a message out to all registered Union County residents pertaining to events which include weather reports, park and cultural events, public health notices, Amber Alerts, CNN Breaking News features, and traffic alerts.

Preparation will again be key for the township if it ever faces another natural disaster that carries the magnitude of Hurricane Irene.

“Hopefully, there isn’t a next event, but we have to be prepared in case there is,” said Bruno.

To find out more about the Union County First Alert system, visit the organization’s website at http://www.ucfirstalert.com.