Heavy snow, wind knocks out area power

VERNON — Wet heavy snow, combined with heavy winds, blanketed the region on Friday causing tens of thousands of Sussex County residents to be without power for the next four days.
As of Tuesday afternoon, less than 100 area residents were still without power.
Throughout the company’s service area, 221,00 customers were affected at the height of the storm.
JCP&L officials said the majority of customers were expected be restored by late Tuesday and some of the customers in the hardest hit areas of northern Morris County are expected to be restored by late Thursday, as a snowstorm expected to hit Tuesday night lasting into early Thursday morning could hamper efforts.
Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative reported that more than 2,000 of its customers were without power due to the storm. The co-op reported their system was restored by 9:45 p.m. on Monday night.
Despite the electrical outages, Vernon Township residents have rallied around each other.
On Monday, Shortway said he was in contact with Gov. Phil Murphy’s staff requesting the area considered to be a disaster area.
“I just completed a discussion regarding our response, status and concerns, emphasizing that Friday’s storm is not over for us and with the impending storm approaching, this is actually one continuous event,” Shortway said on Facebook.
In advance of Wednesday’s storm, which is forecasted to drop 10-18 inches of snow on the area, Murphy declared a statewide emergency beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Township police said during the storm officers issued many tickets for parking in the roadway and called for some vehicles to be towed, but compliance is getting better.
In advance of the forecasted storm, police advised residents to make sure their vehicles are parked off the road any time snow and ice are falling, and since call volume is high officers will not be knocking on doors and asking people to move their cars.
Police also reminded residents it is illegal to place snow or ice on the roadway while clearing driveways and cars.
The Vernon Township Municipal Center will be closed on Wednesday.