Still Recovering From Sandy, Hopatcong Handles Nor'easter

While Hopatcong is far from recovering from Hurricane Sandy last week as thousands remain without power, officials say the borough was prepared for the nor'easter.

"Trucks are all loaded and ready to go," Business Administrator Robert Elia said Wednesday. "We have salt trucks, plows, everything is ready."

As the nor'easter began hitting North Jersey Wednesday afternoon and will continue to bring a snowy mix into Thursday, Elia said the focus for Wednesday has been getting ready for the storm.

"That involves mounting blades on trucks, making sure all trucks have fuel, salt is on trucks, making sure everything is ready to go," he said.

Elia said crews have not stopped since Sandy cleaning up trees and poles that have been lying on electrical lines.

"We're cutting trees that are blocking roads," he said. "We try to clean up, so we're getting around town. That's the focus of our effort."

He said crews have worked through normal days off, such as Election Day, and will continue to work through other holidays as needed.

Elia said the mayor, DPW and police all had a meeting Wednesday morning that went over where the borough is currently at and how to prepare for the latest storm.

After the meeting, the mayor released a statement with some of the things discussed at the meeting, including improving communication among officials and residents.

One of the steps taken was creating a new Facebook page for the borough where officials will start to post updates.

It was also announced the 80 percent of the borough still remains without power, which is the first percentage announced in several days after JCP&L has made several "inaccurate" reports, according to officials.

Mayor Petillo .

To get emergency alerts from Sussex County, you can add you cell phone number or email address to the data base by going to http://www.sussex.nj.us/ and clicking the Outbound 9-1-1 icon.

Petillo said to call the borough at 973-810-8346 for non-emergencies, and 911 for emergencies.