Congressman, Mayor Tour Irene Damage in Hopatcong

Joe Marino's power had been off since Sunday when Hurricane Irene rattled the East Coast. His neighbor, Joseph Andres, had also lost electricity for as long. The pair were starting to wonder when somebody would take notice.

Then Marino spotted an unmarked police cruiser driving down his street on Friday. He recognized Hopatcong Mayor Sylvia Petillo in the passenger seat. But he didn't know the other man in the car.

Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11) toured damaged areas in Hopatcong for about a half-hour with Petillo and Hopatcong police officer Robert Haffner. Frelinghuysen's district included Byram, Hopatcong, Stanhope and part of Sparta, as well as Morris County and parts of Somerset, Essex and Passaic counties.

Frelinghuysen had called Petillo early Friday morning to set up the tour. He said he first ventured into Sparta and expected to see Netcong, Stanhope and Morris Plains before the end of the day.

"If you were without power and you have a flooded basement and you've thrown out hundreds of dollars of food in your fridge, you're an unhappy camper," he said. "But certainly we sympathize with people … it's been a horrendous situation for the entire East Coast, but we'll come back from it."

Petillo said they toured various areas of Hopatcong with downed wires and trees, including the Hopatcong Heights and lakeside areas. She said most roads are clear and that she's been in contact with a Jersey Central Power & Light spokesman, giving the company addresses of homes without power. She said Hopatcong's biggest problem as of Friday was downed wires.

"We showed him situations in which we had the most problems so he could get an idea of what it's like in Hopatcong," Petillo said of Frelinghuysen. "We're not having a flooding problem like in many towns. We're having a problem with when waters recede, and the electricity and cleanup for many people."

Petillo said in addition to crews from JCP&L, whose outage map as of 3 p.m. Friday said 168 Hopatcong customers were still without power, hazard response teams from FirstEnergy Corp. were relaying damage news to the power company. FirstEnergy Corp. owns JCP&L.

Petillo and Frelinghuysen each commended Gov. Chris Christie's response to the storm. Petillo said she's been on five or six mayoral conference calls with Christie and a representative in Trenton has helped her pressure JCP&L to act quicker in Hopatcong.

Frelinghuysen said Hopatcong people without electricity should be patient. "[JCP&L] has a priority list," he said. "Nursing homes, multiple dwellings." The congressman also credited Hopatcong's emergency services squads for their fast response during the hurricane.

Marino was just glad to see officials recognizing his situation. He said he had only lost electricity one other time for an extended period in 32 years in Hopatcong.

Marino said he chopped up and removed a tree on his road when borough officials said all their saws were in use. He also said his neighbors had come together, offering each other electricity.

He said he didn't want to complain to Petillo and Frelinghuysen. Just yards away from where they stood, a tree had crashed into Marino's neighbor's roof and flatted the hood of his car.

"We don't mean to be a pain," Marino said he told the pair, "but it's been since Sunday and we did everything beyond what taxpayers would do."

"I can't complain about the town," he continued. "I know the taxes are high, but it is what it is. It's New Jersey. But I appreciate the mayor coming up and seeing what they could do."