Tens of thousands of customers remain without power in South Jersey today – following a series of violent thunderstorms that rolled across the region at the end of last week causing widespread damage and outages. 

As of 3PM  on Tuesday   the Atlantic City Electric outage map shows 62,000 customers still without power, the most being in Atlantic, Salem & Cumberland counties.

“The devastation to our system was extensive, but we have made significant progress in our effort to fully restore electricity to every customer affected by this storm,” said Vince Maione, Atlantic City Region President in a press release.

Atlantic City Electric says they are finalizing the restoration of the main transmission lines and will be working in the neighborhoods to restore outages associated with smaller groups and individual customers.

 

Atlantic City Electric spokesman Matt Likovich says “right now we have assistance from New York utilities and Northern New Jersey…PSE+G in Central Jersey is sending us 130 employees, crews and office employees. All available personnel, all hands on deck, are working round the clock to get power restored to our customers.”

IT’S OK TO DO AC

Despite the power problems in many areas, it’s all systems go in Atlantic City.

Grace Hanlon, the Director of the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism says “it is absolutely okay for people to go to Atlantic City.  I encourage them to go down- the boardwalk is open, the casinos the restaurants, Steel Pier…all of the attractions are up and running. And the golf courses are open too. Everything is perfect in Atlantic City;  the electricity is working, the air conditioners are on , it’s cool and it’s fun.”

She says all major roads are open and free of debris, but “it’s always okay to call ahead – if you have a little concern about traffic – always utilize that 511 number – so that you can call ahead of time -the roads are open and cleared – ready for a great 4th of July weekend in Atlantic City.”

Hanlon adds “there are going to be fireworks in Atlantic City, you can go watch them from Steel Pier, the amusement park, if you’re bringing your children they can go on the rides – we’re looking forward to a wonderful holiday.”

Atlantic City Public Safety is offering Dorothy Fire Hall, MargateTerrace at 610 N. Fredricksburg Avenue, and Northfield City Hall as 24 hour centers where residents can seek relief from the heat in air conditioned facilities and receive water.

County library branches are open to the public as well, offering cool air conditioning at all locations except for Mays Landing, Egg Harbor Township and Ventor.

Residents can again pick up one 40-pound bag of ice and one 24-bottle case of water per car free of charge at the Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. today.

 

 

Atlantic City Electric Safety Precautions

 

Stay away from downed wires. Call 1-800-833-7476 and follow the prompts to report a downed wire or an outage.

Avoid crews working in the street. This will keep you and the crews safe, and allow them to work on restoring your power.

Visit atlanticcityelectric.com for safety tips and follow the advice of your local emergency management officials.

If you plan to use a portable generator, follow the manufacturer’s instructions and use only when necessary. Don’t overload it and turn it off at night, while you sleep and when you are away from home.

Locate a portable generator in a well-ventilated area. Never run it inside, even in your garage, to avoid the potential hazard of carbon monoxide. Do not connect the generator directly into your home’s main fuse box or circuit panel.

Protect food and refrigerated medicine with regular ice in an insulated cooler. If you are without power for more than two hours, refrigerated foods should be placed in a cooler. Foods will stay frozen for 36 to 48 hours in a fully loaded freezer if the door remains closed, and a half-full freezer will generally keep frozen food for up to 24 hours.

Turn off power to flood-prone basement appliances if it is safe to do so. However, if you have an electrically operated sump pump, you should not turn off the power in your basement.

Tune in to local news broadcasts for the latest weather and emergency information.

Take cover if necessary

Dan Alexander contributed to this story

 

Share your pictures of storm damage by uploading a photo below.

Show Us Your Weather

Monmouth County residents are conserving water while South Jersey is dealing with fallen trees and power lines. Share your pictures by uploading it below.





More From Lite 96.9 WFPG