Bergen County had a most unusual weather event. We had a rare October storm. This was a major winter storm of historic proportions. It sliced through the area creating an incredible amount of havoc.
The early winter storm brought much more than large amounts of snow and freezing weather. It roared in with snow that was very heavy with moisture. Because of the tremendous weight of this snow and the time of year, it created havoc.
This is still Fall. It’s too early at this point in the year for trees to endure such a storm. They have not had enough time to become hardened for winter weather. As a result, tremendous numbers of trees came down as well as many large branches. This made streets impassable. Streets look like a giant has dumped piles of branches and downed trees on them for blocks on end. Because so many large trees and large branches have fallen, they’ve taken electrical lines with them. As a result, we have had overwhelming power loss. This has generally shut down most of the county.
Halloween has been cancelled in most towns and nearly all businesses and schools have been closed. It’s simply too dangerous with all the downed power lines. There is also the fact that the clean up of this mess does not need residents in the way.
New Jersey Transit has suspended all bus and train service in Bergen County too. They have announced that service will return as conditions permit. Public Service Electric and Gas termed this the worst disaster in memory. Everyone is asked to not go out – stay inside and try to keep warm.
I have to tell you that this is a first. We have never cancelled Halloween or suspended all NJ Transit service in my time. This rare October storm has devastated Bergen County and the entire NY metro area as well as the East Coast. We have terrific town services here as well as a fabulous utility in PSEG. I am sure we’ll be up and running sooner than anyone expects.
