Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca posted the following updates on Facebook:
Winter Storm Jonas – Maplewood Township Update
The most important message is to stay off the roads. Be safe and stay home.
I will periodically provide updates to my initial post.
9:30am
State-wide
This morning I joined a call with Governor Christie to hear how the state is prepared to deal with the storm. State officials have it together and are responding appropriately. A state of emergency was declared.
As has been reported on the news, snowfall amounts for northern NJ will be more than initially projected.
The major highways, GS Parkway and NJ Turnpike are being plowed but snow is coming down fast. They advised not to drive unless necessary.
There are already 40,000 customers in South Jersey who have lost electric power. They expect that number to spike as winds pick up throughout the rest of the state. The Superintendent of State Police said gusts are already 30-35 mph.
Maplewood
A state of emergency was declared at 6:00pm on Friday night.
This morning the Department of Public Works has over 20 pieces of equipment out plowing the streets. The DPW Director told me the snow is coming down very fast and cars on our roads are getting stuck in the snow.
We have an ample supply of salt at this time.
Please stay off the roads.
If you do shovel, remember that it is against the law to shovel snow into the street. Do not shovel snow into the street.
The DPW recycling center is closed today.
Electric Power
If you have a power outage, call PSE&G at 1-800-436-7734. I will be on a phone call with PSEG officials at 2pm to get an update.
If you are out, do not touch any downed power lines.
If necessary due to power loss, the Township will open its warming station at the Community Center in DeHart Park.
Stay home. Stay safe.
Was on 2pm call with PSE&G
Only 5 customers in Essex County are without power.
PSE&G officials expect this to be mostly a snow event and it should not impact power supply. If the winds pick up significantly or if it becomes very wet snow, there may be more of a problem. Right now they don’t anticipate that happening.
Essex County Office of Emergency Management also reported few problems. They repeated the warning to stay off the roads to allow snow plows to do their work and to prevent snow related accidents.
The Maplewood DPW plows have been working hard to keep up with the snowfall. They should be taking a break around 3pm and will be back out again later this afternoon and tonight.
Stay home and stay safe.
