Hopatcong Mayor: 'Most Important Thing Is We Have Food and Shelter'

Hopatcong Mayor Sylvia Petillo said residents should use the high school shelter, as thousands in the borough remain completely without electricity three days after Tropical Storm Sandy tore through the northeast.

"The most important thing is that we have food and shelter," she said. "Residents need to know the high school is open 24 hours."

Petillo said the Red Cross continues to serve three meals per day at the high school. She also said pets are allowed, as long as they're in crates.

Petillo said JCP&L crews have been out in the borough on Thursday making assessments and working on the power lines to help get the borough back up and running.

"JCP&L is in town and they've already started to work," she said. "It's just going to take time. There's a lot of damage here."

Petillo said the power company is currently working with the DPW to remove the wires off roads. Once the wires are clear, the DPW will start removing the trees, she said.

"The first step is to make roads safe," Petillo said.

As of noon on Wednesday, Petillo said Lakeside Boulevard will be open soon. She said the crews have been clearing the road and getting the poles up.

She said the power company is working on distribution lines throughout the northeast, and they plan on getting another 100,000 customers across the region with power in the next couple of days.

Although it is not clear exactly which part of the region will get the power back first, Petillo said that the company is aware that Hopatcong has a shelter and is in desperate need.

While gas is limited around town, Petillo urges residents to conserve their gas and not to drive around unless it is an urgent need.

She said the borough's emergency vehicles are still fine with gas, and to call the police at 973-398-5000 if any help is needed, or 911 for an emergency.

Stay with Patch for our continuing coverage of Sandy.

Read all of our Hopatcong-Sparta Sandy coverage here.