MANCHESTER – The wind and rain blasted through Ocean County this morning, tearing down branches and wreaking havoc.
Wind is no friend to above ground power lines, and the impact could be felt throughout the area.
Jennifer Young, a spokesperson with Jersey Central Power & Light, said that there were about 10,000 customers impacted by the storm in total. By 11 a.m., about 2,200 were still without power. By 3 p.m., that number was down to 57.
“We were watching the weather system through the weekend, so we had additional crews on hand,” she said.
Most of the impact was between 4 and 6 a.m., she said. Crews reported that most of the problems came from trees or branches being blown down. One source reported gusts of wind up to 70 m.p.h.
Some spots, like the intersection of Colonial Drive and Route 37 in Manchester, remained out for a prolonged period of time. Manchester High School is off of that intersection, and the district closed for the day. The municipal building, on the other side of that intersection, remained open. The library next door to the municipal building was closed, as was Lakehurst Elementary School.
Parts of Route 70 was closed due to downed high tension wires. There were also reports of scattered flooding in the area.
