Thousands across the region remained without power Sunday morning after the historic blizzard that pummeled the region for 24-plus hours, dropping feet of snow and causing major flooding at the Jersey Shore, moved out.
In New Jersey, Shore towns were the hardest hit by coastal flooding and power outages. Small outage numbers were reported in parts of Pennsylvania and Delaware. At one point on Saturday, about 40,000 customers were in the dark.
That number improved on Sunday, but outages persisted in many Jersey Shore towns. Atlantic City Electric reported early Sunday that more than 18,500 customers were still without power, most of whom live in Cape May, Ocean and Atlantic counties.
Here's a breakdown of outages, as of 5:30 a.m. Sunday:
New Jersey:
Atlantic County (AC Electric) - 1,274 customers
Burlington County (AC Electric) - 47 customers
Cape May County (AC Electric) - 15,178 customers
Cumberland County (AC Electric) - 242 customers
Ocean County (AC Electric) - 1,856 customers
Camden/Gloucester (AC Electric) - Less than 15 customers
Pennsylvania:
Philly (PECO) - Handful customers
Bucks/Chester/Delaware/Montgomery counties (PECO) - Handful of customers
Northampton County (PPL Electric) - Handful of customers
Delaware: (Delmarva Electric)
Kent County - 374
New Castle County - 2,301
If you haven’t already done this, go ahead and program your local utility number into your cellphone so you’ll have it to report a problem if you lose power. Here are the numbers for reporting outages to utility companies in our area:
— PECO: 1-800-841-4141
— PSE&G: 1-800-436-7734
— PP&L: 1-800-342-5775
— Atlantic City Electric: 1-800-833-7476
— Delmarva Power: 1-800-375-7117
Homes along the Delaware beaches and Jersey Shore were especially hard hit. Stone Harbor and Avalon in Cape May County lost power after wires went down and officials feared that power might not be back until Sunday.
Repair crews with Atlantic City Electric asked customers to be patient. For safety reasons, their crews have to wait until the strong winds subside before trying to restore power.
"We’re keeping a close watch on the weather and wind speeds," said Vince Maione, Atlantic City Electric region president. "We’ll continue conducting a comprehensive assessment which we’ll use to strategically deploy crews. Crews will work around the clock as safely and quickly as possible until every customer is restored."
PECO alone had about 3,000 employees -- including some from Chicago -- ready to go if needed.
If you have suffered a power outage, the American Red Cross advises you unplug unnecessary electoral equipment as well as any appliances you were using when you lost power. Surges when the power comes back on could damage equipment.
Another tip: Leave one light turned on so you'll know when the power returns.
The Red Cross also advises never to use a camp stove, grill or a generator inside a home, garage, basement or partially enclosed area to avoid the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning or fire.
Use those items instead away from doors, windows and vents.
