More than 20,000 are without power in Long Branch, Eatontown and Tinton Falls as the region recovers from the impact of Hurricane Sandy.
In Long Branch, city officials say they're assessing the damage left in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. "Please keep in mind that as the storm moves away from our area, it continues to pose an imminent threat to safety," officials say.
The city remains in a state of emergency and is a designated disaster area.
A curfew remains in effect and all residents are urged to stay indoors. Wires, trees, power lines and telephone poles are down, flooding continues to pose a threat, the majority of the city is without power and many roadways are extremely impassible.
All businesses are ordered to close. All vehicle and pedestrian traffic is prohibited.
"DO NOT GO TO THE OCEANFRONT!" the city's website says.
The Long Branch Police Department is overwhelmed with emergency calls. Do not call the Long Branch Police Department or dial 9-1-1 "unless you have a true, life-threatening emergency," the city says.
For all non-emergency calls and information, please call the Long Branch Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 732-571-6575.
In Tinton Falls, Mayor Michael Skudera said Office of Emergency Management personnel "continue to work very hard to protect the residents of Tinton Falls."
He said the Tinton Falls Borough Hall is running on back-up generation power and remains fully operational. Police, Fire and Emergency Services radio communications remain intact.
There are downed trees and wires throughout the area.
To view the power company's outages map click on the following link: http://outages.firstenergycorp.com/nj.html
The power company is projecting that outages could last from 7 to 10 days as a result of anticipated damage from the storm. Crews are assessing the situation and will restore power to all affected areas as quickly and safely as possible.
If you have a downed power line or another hazardous situation, call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877) immediately. The more residents who call the power company the faster JCP&L can pinpoint the locations where we need to send crews for repairs.
New Jersey American Water is reporting that 100 percent of its customers have normal water service, the mayor said. However, its facilities are running on back up generation power (mostly diesel, some natural gas).
The water company is reporting that at this time they have adequate fuel supplies and feel they should not run out of fuel and that the Swimming River bridge pipelines were not impacted by the storm.
