(Updated with new input)
Many pockets of neighborhoods in Glen Ridge, Montclair and Bloomfield have been without power since the weekend, and some have had to deal with flooding, too. In this picture, neighbors with power on Carteret Street in Glen Ridge lend some electricity to those who don’t. If you have been affected, please send us your stories here.
From Patrick Preblick in Glen Ridge:
On Adams Place, Midland, Lorraine, Madison, Chapman, Astor Place and Hawthorne in Glen Ridge, they’re hunkered down once again, but this time it’s a blackout, not a sewage flood or blizzard bonding the hardy residents.
As tedious, frustrating, depressing and cold as it is to lose power for days with no hope of respite until Wednesday or Thursday–though I’ll believe it when I see it–it’s hard to stay bummed out when you have such wonderful neighbors–even the ones you barely know.
All day yesterday, people congregated outside swapping the latest PSE&G predictions on restoration of power and info on downed trees; neighbors with power shared their lights, heat, hot water, and perhaps most importantly, their wine, with the beleaguered.
Despite the downside of this experience, I’m even more appreciative of what I love about this town–the sense of comraderie in the best and not-so-best times. A neighbor who I only know through us waving while we walk our dogs offered the use of his home and anything else we wanted; friends with working freezers and fridges offered to transfer some of my food to theirs for the duration; I had a dry basement–not always the case in the past. I was also grateful my gas stove worked. Pals everywhere invited us over for baths and showers, and offered their homes–power filled or not–for impromptu playdates with bored children.
Here’s hoping my pals and neighbors keep up the hospitality till power returns. What doesn’t freeze us makes us stronger, or something like that.
We had feedback from a resident in Little Falls, where overflowing rivers and rising water were the key worries. The Willowbrook Mall area and carwash behind Hooters was said to be under water.
From Lydia Zawistowski in Little Falls:
Many residents left their homes. This was in the Little Falls area, the homes that back up to the river. Residents said the river was very high this morning. Many of the houses were flooded. Many large trees fell in Cedar Gove, Little Falls, Fairfield. Fairfield’s roads along the river were closed by police. The waters were very high in that area. One resident said they used sandbags at their house in Little Falls. He said this was the first time his entire basement had flooded.
The Runnions family, who have newborn infants and two older kids, were celebrating their toddler’s birthday in Glen Ridge when they lost power late on Saturday. They eventually sought refuge at the kids’ grandparents’ home in Nutley.
From Paula Runnions:
We spent (Saturday) night at our house with the twins feeding and changing them all night over candlelight and flashlight. We roughed it all night thinking we would have power in the morning. This was not the case.
Meanwhile my inlaws here (in Nutley) are half without power – their laundry machine and dryer don’t work (half their power is lost) bizarre but true, so we can’t even do laundry here.
Meanwhile, township libraries were attempting to make life easier for those without power and heating. Glen Ridge Public Library said that due to the outages, it would extend library hours today to 10:00pm. Residents will be able to use laptops, charge cell phones and stay warm in the Library. While the library catalog and public Internet computers are not available, wi-fi is working, the library said.
At Montclair’s public library, others were doing the same.
From Deborah Broide:
At local Montclair, NJ library using internet access and charging my iPhone. Our power, heat and phones have been out since Saturday at 4:30pm. House was 52 degrees this am. Dogs want to move (LOL!). No word on when power may resume.
For those who may need it, here’s the NJ office of emergency management hotline: 973.890.4520
Our power went out Sat. @ 9:00 am and just popped on this morning (Monday) @ 8:30 am.
Thank you PSE&G and all the workers who risked life and limb in horrible conditions, day and night, to get things back to normal. I hope everyone without power is restored ASAP!
Park Terrace (tiny one block dead end off of Alexander between Grove and Park) has a large tree down in the middle of the road blocking in the residents on the bottom half of the street. On top of that, the tree took down power lines so that whole bottom half of the block that can’t get out, they don’t have any power either! PSE&G says maybe Thursday!!!!!
This transmission is being sent from my laptop, via the MPL … Here’s our story …
We live in Upper Montclair, near Brookdale Park, and have not had power since 10:03 PM Saturday night. There are about 50 houses in our area out of power since then. Our home is registering at about 52 degrees. We have no heat, and we have no landline phone service. We also cannot boil water because our range, although gas, needs electricity to ignite.
We are very thankful (1) that we have NO water or sewage in our basement and (2) for our cell phones and (3) for our neighbors across the street who do have power who allowed us to charge up our phones and laptop in their home yesterday.
The scariest thing is that PSE&G thinks we DO have power. We and our neighbors who are out of power have tried repeatedly to call and tell them that we DON’T, but we continue to get a message that says “Power has been restored to your area.”
Since Saturday night, there have been NO repair trucks, NO service personnel, and NO PSE&G people anywhere near or in our neighborhood.
We do realize others may have it far worse than we, so we are just hoping that things get taken care of soon. Meantime, the forecast for tonight is 38 degrees, 25-35 mph winds and snow flurries. Brrrr.
We also cannot boil water because our range, although gas, needs electricity to ignite.
I’ve never had an oven built after 1990, but can’t you just use a match to light a burner?
Kacey – you can always (carefully) light the gas stove with a match or lighter. This will let you cook and boil water. Don’t be tempted to use the oven for heat, though. It can be very dangerous if the flame is extinguished and the gas continues to flow.
Good luck!!!
Our neighborhood lost power Saturday morning and it just started coming back on last night and this morning.
Our thanks go out to the Montclair Police and PSE&G guys who were working long hours all weekend in truly nasty weather and dangerous conditions. Great job!
Spicoli-TheSequel — Thanks for the tip!
Rob, with the old ones, yes, but this is a new range, purchased last November.
I live in “regular” Montclair. Lost power this morning. Might not be back until Tuesday, 4pm. in the meantime, I suggest people check on any elderly or disabled in their neighborhood. maybe even before you go on-line and blog about your “experiences”..
Great idea. We are a close-knit neighborhood, in touch with each other’s next-door neighbors, and on down the line. When we first moved here, we had neighbors on either side of us of 80+ years. We were in constant communication in emergencies just to be sure all was okay. Also, I know from my parents that elderly people often don’t feel the cold or heat like younger people do … so it’s important that you SEE them as well as talk with them on the phone, just to make sure they are really okay.
I know what an incredible drag it can be to go through something like this, having been through 2 protracted blackouts and numerous floods (pre-sump pump installation). Including a sewage backup *shudder*. I think the guy quoted first in the article has a great attitude about the whole thing.
The thing I remember most about it was how magical it was when the whole city was in blackout because all of the neighbors were out on the sidewalk *talking to each other*! It really turned into a long block party, since people eventually started grilling on the sidewalks, etc. to share food before it spoiled. There was an incredible sense of camraderie that was never there when people were in their regular routines, and nestled in with their A/C and TVs. After I got kind of used to it, it also reminded me of the difference between ‘need’ and ‘want.’
I lived in Washington Heights during the blackout of 1999 that left us without power for 5 days–try that living on a high floor in July, yuck.
That said, there’s nothing good about no heat in 38-degree weather, and I hope the folks without heat get it back post-haste. Otherwise, hang tight and try to make the best of the enforced quiet time; it’s something most of us don’t get very often.
I am so sorry for all of you who are without power, especially those of you with pets and children in your care. However, I must say that this article really made me smile–and even brought a few tears to my eyes. How great to hear about neighbors helping neighbors–even ones who haven’t really met before. It’s incredible to me how small acts of kindness show just how capable we all are of caring for one another in need.
So, in addition to thanks to PSE&G, I’d like to say thank you to all of you who are helping out your neighbors, friends, and acquaintances. You are what make a town like Montclair a unique community!
Patrick,
Yes, we are fortunate to live where we do with helpful, friendly neighbors. The people living in our neighborhood make times like this bearable. Things such as the driveway parties and dog group make for pleasant times and good friends.
I drove via lots of back streets from Bloomfield through Montclair, Verona, North Caldwell, Caldwell, and West Caldwell this morning. Bloomfield avenue was closed out where it runs into Route 46 in Fairfield. That section is near the river and always floods. Lots of trees and wires down, lots of closed streets. The house across the street from where we lived in Caldwell is now sporting a fairly large pine across the porch roof. Hard to tell how much damage there is but I will bet it is considerable.
I had a massive flood in my basement but did not lose power. I’m so sorry for all of you who did. By this time next week, let’s hope this is all nothing more than a bad memory.
This is a teachable moment. All this talk about losing power is misguided. You should all be striving to live off the grid permanently. With solar panels on the rooftops, insulation in your walls, and several layers of fleece from recycled plastic it is possible to get through with winter with almost no external power source. A small chicken coop can provide eggs and, as a bonus, the chickens make good space heaters if you take them into the bedroom at night.
cows are even better space heaters than chickens
As I know many before me have noted, there are serious problems with this thumbs up / thumbs down procedure. When I checked back on this thread tonight to look for other (admittedly warm and fuzzy) stories of friendships formed thanks to the storm, I was surprised to see my prior posting had earned a “4″. With eight “votes”, this likely means several people took particular exception to my comment that praised our local community for supporting one another.
What’s wrong with you people? Stop hiding behind a thumb and start using your voice. What exactly do you disagree with and why?
MTV, if you’re looking for some kind of logic here, I think you will be sorely disappointed.
I used look for a logical answer to all of my “Why does he/she do X” questions, and at some point I realized that some people seem to just operate on a different plane than I do, and some people are plain crazy. When I can keep that in mind, I find it quite liberating.
One of my favorite songwriters, a wonderfully eccentric woman named Poe, wrote a song I think of often. The chorus goes:
“CAN’T TALK TO A PSYCHO LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING.”
Wise woman. And she rocks!