Community Corner

The Lights Are Still Out for Many in Matawan and Aberdeen

Residents are facing the struggles of having no power for days

Lara Dela Rosa-Hona is one of the over 300 Aberdeen residents without power after Hurricane Irene barreled through the area this weekend.

Dela Rosa-Hona, who lives on Prospect Avenue in the Cliffwood Beach section of town with her husband and three children, said that the power went out Saturday night toward the end of the 11 p.m. news.

"I was watching the news and I said, oh jeeze, people are starting to lose power already. Then our power went out," she said.

Find out what's happening in Matawan-Aberdeenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As of Monday, her power remained off and she decided left her home with her children to stay with her mother-in-law in Piscataway.

"We have no hot water," she said. The family was also forced to throw away perishable items, such as milk, because the refriderator is not running."

Find out what's happening in Matawan-Aberdeenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Dela Rosa-Hona is glad that everyone survived the storm, but is concerned about how her husband and neighbors will survive without power.

"My husband has sleep apnea. He needs a machine to sleep at night," she said. "We have a neighbor who needs to use oxygen and our other neighbor is an elderly couple. You would think it would be more of a priority, for medical problems. But you call JCP&L (Jersey Central Power and Lighting) and it's just a message."

As many residents enter their third day without power, they are left to wonder - what is taking so long?

As of 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, there were still 263 residents in Aberdeen, 613 in Cliffwood Beach and 3,866 in Matawan without power. Many lost power during the storm Saturday night, while others lost power as trees fell during the wind Sunday evening.

According to a release issued by the county, JCP&L restored power to 248,000 customers in New Jersey as of Monday afternoon.

Dela Rosa-Hona is frustrated with JCP&L.

"It could have been worse, I know, in our area. But I don't understand why it's taking so long," she said. "You can't even talk about it to anyone. Sometimes you can't even get a call through [to JCP&L]."

Aberdeen Township Mayor Fred Tagliarini said the township has been in contact with the power company.

"We were told that the first thing that JCP&L has to do is get their own facilities up and running," Tagliarini said. "After that, it might take up to five days because they prioritize repairs - hospitals, nursing homes and other special facilities first."

Tagliarini feels for the residents without power, and hopes that it will be restored soon. Until then, however, he promises the township will do whatever is possible for its residents.

"We had one resident come down to the fire station to plug in his oxygen and take care of his health business for a while," the mayor said. "It's JCP&L's responsibility to restore power, but we're here for our residents."

According to the release from the county, JCP&L crews are making progress, but debris from downed trees and limbs and areas of heavy
flooding are making restoration efforts challenging.

Additionally, the release says, many of the outages associated with this storm are isolated and will require a significant number of separate repairs to bring all residents back in service.

If you have not already reported an outage in your own home, JCP&L asks that you do so by calling 1-888-544-4877. A map of power outages throughout the state, updated every 15 minutes, can be viewed here.


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