Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Halloween parade moved to Nov. 5; trick-or-treating deemed too dangerous tonight.
Like Maplewood Patch on Facebook for updates on anything Sandy-related. Hurricane Sandy has made a horror show out of Halloween this year. With many trees and downed power lines still littering the streets, Maplewood officials have decided to postpone the Halloween parade -- and trick-or-treating -- to Monday, Nov. 5. The parade was first postponed to Friday, but "After meeting with fire and police chiefs, and the DPW, it did not appear that we will have enough (streets) cleared by then," said Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca. Officials were also taking into account that Gov. Chris Christie issued an executive order declaring that no New Jersey town can hold trick-or-treating on Wednesday. "We are making our best recommendation that people not…
No school Thursday or Friday, according to Superintendent.
South Orange - Maplewood Schools will be closed Thursday, Nov. 1 and Friday, Nov. 2, according to emails and phone calls from the district. The closings are due to "power outages and hazardous conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy," the email read. On Tuesday, Superintendent Brian Osborne had indicated via Twitter that most schools in Maplewood and South Orange had power and might be open on Thursday. However, Maplewood township officials said dangerous road conditions would make getting to school difficult for many students. The district asked that people spread the word of the school closings to those who still do not have power.
Mayor DeLuca is "disappointed" by PSE&G timetable. Also: updates on street clearings, garbage collection and more.
“I am even more disappointed” than before at PSE&G’s most recent estimates of when power will be restored to Maplewood Township, said Mayor Vic DeLuca. DeLuca’s gloomy assessment came Wednesday afternoon, after a regional conference call with the power company. “They have not yet released a timetable for residential restoration,” said DeLuca. There are roughly 9,000 customers without power in Maplewood. PSE&G has been telling customers in Essex County to expect that it will take another seven to ten days to restore residential power. “We are cautiously optimistic that it will be shorter than that,” said DeLuca. He said while he understands that the utility company has to restore electrical substations, and then transmission lines, …
Travel by car and foot is still problematic, town officials say.
Maplewood's Police and Fire Chiefs, as well as the heads of the Department of Public Works and Health, are recommending that South Orange/Maplewood schools should not reopen on Thursday, according to Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca. Superintendent Brian Osborne tweeted a notice on Tuesday night reporting, "Only minor damage to SOMSD schools. Hoping any school with power on opens on Thursday." "Our emergency management team doesn't feel we are able to have students get to school safely," said DeLuca on Wednesday afternoon at Town Hall, "whether or not the schools themselves have power." Although the township has cleared many streets of downed trees, many trees with power lines and wires on them remain in streets. The township needs …
Morrow Church opened its doors to the community
Updated: Morrow will be open again on Wednesday. Residents (church members AND the public) can come to recharge selves or devices, to chat. Kids can play in the church basement, do crafts, watch videos. There is no charge, and the public is most welcome. Offering coffee, power, kid play space and companionship, Morrow Church opens its doors to the entire community on Tuesday. Tuesday night will see a movie night at Morrow, free, open to the public. (Bring your own snacks, etc.) By midday Tuesday, numerous adults were in the church powering gadgets and using the phone. Kids watched videos in one room, while the church basement was given over to fusball, scooters, and other kid play. The church library served as a group office, with …
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
"Tremendous devastation" to PSE&G electrical grid.
Update, Tuesday 8:30 p.m.: Mayor DeLuca said 9,100 customers are out of power in Maplewood and four PSE&G crews in town are working on primary lines. Mayor Vic DeLuca posted the following message on Maplewood Online just before 3:30 p.m on Tuesday afternoon: I just got off a call with PSE&G. Power sub-stations, which transfer power from the grid, are out. There are six in the Newark area out at this time. It will take up to a day or two to get them back to a fully charged state. After that they will focus on 50 transmission line that take power to local communities. There are 250,000 customers in Essex County without power. We will see restoration on a rolling basis over the next three to five days. There was tremendous devastation …
Some restaurants and stores are open, and lots of people are out.
It looked almost like a typical weekday afternoon in Maplewood Village on Tuesday. Folks were strolling around, shopping, eating and running into friends. But look a little closer, and it is clear that the village was not untouched by the wrath of Hurricane Sandy. Though there is power, there are also shattered windows, fallen power lines and tree limbs, bent street signs and cordoned off side streets. (See here for more photos of devastation throughout town). Conversations center on several key questions: Are you all OK? Do you have power? When will school be back? (SOMSD schools are closed at least through Wednesday). What was open: Kings, Village Wine Shop (despite a severely damaged front window), Mapleleaf Diner (which was packed …
Message from district: spread the word to those without power.
The SOMSD sent out the following message via email at 2:30 on Tuesday: The South Orange-Maplewood School District schools and offices will be closed on Wednesday October 31 due to power outages and hazardous conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy. Please spread the word, as many families are without power. Please note that district servers are shut down and emails to @somsd.k12.nj.us addresses may be lost. Patch will keep readers updated on what the situation is for the rest of the week.
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Maplewood residents woke up to scores of downed trees, no power for most of the township and blocked streets. The Mayor will hold a 10 a.m press conference at Town Hall this morning. Patch will report on that later. Around town, residents report that many blocks have no power. PSEG reports that due to flooding some substations, including one in Newark, were closed last night. Those will be reopened when flood water recede. Residents around Maplewood report mostly wind damage, rather than water problems. Governor Chris Christie tweeted today, "The cost of this storm is incalculable at this point." Schools remain closed on Tuesday, as does NJ Transit. The Garden State Parkway has reopened. Parts of the Turnpike are open. Christie also …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Tree knocked down by Sandy's high winds.
A large tree fell on a house on Euclid Avenue at around 8:45 p.m. Monday night, according to an eyewitness report from a neighbor. "A HUGE old growth tree just fell onto 58 Euclid ave. they have evacuated the family inside," said Ali Birnbaum in an email to Patch. The tree spans nearly the entire house, Birnbaum said. A Breaking News Network alert sent shortly before 9 p.m. noted "people trapped mfd (Maplewood Fire Department) working to free people."
lisabasile
10:33 am on Monday, November 5, 2012
is trick or treating still a go in maplewood tonight? more ›