90 Percent of North Side Loses Power
Fire chief says 20 percent of town's roads blocked and over 400 basements flooded.
Ninety percent of Westfield’s north side has lost power and over 400 homes have flooded basements in the wake of Hurricane Irene.
Fire Chief Dan Kelly said that the town’s emergency personnel have been responding around the clock to reports from residents and businesses regarding the destruction from the hurricane. He said that as of Monday morning, the fire department has responded to 265 storm related incidents in the town.
Kelly said these responses included a small basement fire that occurred on Saturday night as the first part of the storm hit Westfield.
Kelly said that the fallen trees, which have been seen throughout Westfield, have been the main cause of the power outages. Six homes in town have received structural damage from fallen trees.
Kelly said that the fire department has received reports of over 400 homes and businesses with flooded basements. Town fire personnel have been responding to the homes to help pump out basements.
The town’s north side is the most hit with the power outages, with the entire downtown being impacted, along with 90 percent of the north side. Kelly, the town’s emergency management coordinator, said that there have been sporadic impacts on the south side of town.
PSE&G has said it could take several days to restore power to the entire town, which is part of the 58,000 PSE&G served homes, which have lost power in Union County. Power company trucks have been spotted throughout Westfield on Monday.
Kelly said that 20 percent of Westfield’s roads have been blocked by downed trees and power lines.
Please report your observations of the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.
Tell us in the comments.
John Lanza
11:02 pm on Monday, August 29, 2011
At this point our elected officials should be putting pressure on PSE&G to get this fixed. I can't believe in the year 2011 we can not reroute power around the areas and supply power to those with outages. How can one block away have power and the others don't. It just shows that the power grid is outdated and we should force the power companies to fix it. It is only in their best interest, as it will keep their meeters going and continue to charge us outstanding rates for little to NO service.
Sally McBride
12:09 pm on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
You watch too much TV. No one would be willing to pay what they would have to pay to have this functionality. I love when people want to "force" companies do things. All they are going to do (and can do), is pass the cost on to us. And the answer to "how can a house one block away have power" probably is "a tree fell down between the two houses and knocked down a power line"
Rob
11:24 pm on Monday, August 29, 2011
I find the 90% number hard to believe. I know it's alot, but 90% is without power?!? Seems ridiculous. I'm sorry for those affected and who had damage.
joe shoulders
12:37 am on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
ok it stinks going on 48 hours with no power but coming home from work around 9:30 and seeing a fully lit Houlihan Field with not a soul playing on the field was cruel and unusual punishment.
Bruce
7:03 am on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Garwood Laundromat at 92 North Avenue, next to Roma Pizza, in the Blue Ribbon Shopping Plaza is open.