Power May Not Be Back On for Two Weeks, OEM Says

remained in the dark Monday, the Hopatcong OEM coordinator said.

Officer Robert Haffner, coordinator of the OEM, said it was unclear why the utility company was not able to get the power back to the residents. He said the latest prediction for power restoration in the whole town is within two weeks.

Some areas around the borough have gotten their power back, while the majority of town remains in the dark.

Police said the center of town by the Municipal Building first got power back on Saturday night.

Residents have reported having power back on Chincopee Avenue, Lilchester Road, River Styx Road, Amherst Way, and Elba Point.

Haffner said the crews are working in the substations throughout town, and is unsure as to which areas will be geting their power back first.

JCP&L spokesman Mark Nipowski could not give an estimate on Monday when Hopatcong will get its power restored or why the 1,900 homes did not get their power back, but said the majority of customers throughout the North Jersey region will get their power restored by Wednesday night.

He said there were 2,900 customers in the borough without power as of Monday.

Nipowski said throughout the territory, there are 8,200 workers involved in the restoration efforts.

Mayor Sylvia Petillo said there were 19 JCP&L workers out in the borough on Sunday working to restore the power.  She said crews have been working 16-hour shifts daily to clean the debris from Sandy's damage to get the power back up and running.