Electricity in Morristown: Some Reporting Power Restored

At about 11 p.m. Monday, residents began to report (with many exclamation points) power coming on in drips and drabs throughout the Morristown area.

"Power is back on!!!!!" reported Patch contributor Giovanny Infante via Tweet from his residence near the Westin Hotel in Morris Township.

"Mount Kemble Ave up and running!!!!!" a reader sent via email.

Twitter user "AdmiralJewbacca" reported the Highlands at Morristown Station had power "or, at least their fully-lit parking garage does."

, via its Facebook page, reported, "Latest Field Check: Some (spotty at best) power ON on DeHart Street past the DeHart Street Garage Entrance and ON on Maple Avenue block DeHart Street to Community Place (side closest to South Street)."

As power continues to slowly be restored in parts of the Morristown area, the JCP&L outage map may be updated. However, as of 10:53 p.m., the map still indicated over 12,000 people reported without power in Morristown (which, on their map, includes some of Morris Township).

Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty said a JCP&L representative had informed him that 60 percent of residents had power restored by shortly after 7 p.m. Monday.

According to the outage map, 12,471 residents in Morristown (which includes a portion of Morris Township) were still without power shortly before 9 p.m. As the sun set on the Green, police officers directed traffic with glowsticks and the illumination from their flashing lights.

Dougherty said JCP&L continued to work on the Ridgedale Road substation Monday night, with hopes of having full power restored by midnight.

The mayor said Monday morning many residents should have power restored by 4 p.m., with power in the downtown business district online by midnight. However, as of 4:03 p.m., over 12,000 remained without electricity, according to the JCP&L outage map. Some businesses, like , and , were open via generator power on Monday. , on Morris Street, was open since 5 a.m., selling coffee, cigarettes and newspapers. , on Washington Street, opened at 4 p.m. with a generator, selling a limited menu.

, over 10,000 had remained without electricity. Dougherty, who met with JCP&L representatives early Monday morning, noted some Morristown residents had power restored overnight, "but very little."

The mayor said JCP&L, whose Ridgedale Avenue substation had been submerged by flooding from the Whippany River as a result of Hurricane Irene, were working at the substation Monday morning now that all flood waters had receded from roads.

For residents with overhead electrical systems, Dougherty was told by JCP&L representatives that power would be restored sometime around 3 or 4 p.m. on Monday. In the business district, which is served by underground electrical systems, he was told power would be restored by midnight.

When the mayor asked the representative about the previous timeframe for getting power back up in Morristown, he was told, "they've never experienced anything like this before."

The Ridgedale Avenue substation had flooded when remnants of Hurricane Floyd hit the area in in 1999. As a result, JCP&L built a flood retaining wall around the site, which Dougherty said was built "in preparation of the 100-year-flood, plus 50 percent.

"That wall was still breached by the Whippany River [this weekend]," he said. "You can just imagine the intensity of that river and how it rose and how the whole substation flooded out."

Meanwhile, the town was continuing to address storm-related issues with residents as they hear about them. With power still out, traffic signals, including those around the Green, remain out, so proceed with caution, the mayor said.

Update: More people and businesses were reporting power back on Tuesday morning.