Schools Remain Closed Wednesday, Halloween Postponed

All public and parochial schools will remain closed on Wednesday as PSE&G and local officials work to clear the downed trees and wires in River Dell.

PSE&G is reporting more than 1.4 million customers are without power due to Hurricane Sandy, with approximately 235,683 residents impacted in Bergen County. There are roughly 4,000 to 10,000 River Dell residents that are without power at this time.

According to PSE&G on Twitter, the company stated that Nov. 5 is the storm restoration time frame and all residents should have power restored by then.

And with the power out, all Halloween trick-or-treating for Wednesday night is cancelled and rescheduled in both towns until Nov. 3.

"We would like everyone to celebrate Halloween safely by doing their trick or treating on Saturday November 3rd for your own safety," Oradell OEM coordinator Derek Kahill said. "There is a 6pm curfew tonight as well. We are asking for everyone to stay off the streets and inside for your own safety."

The spooky funfilled holiday may actually be postponed across the entire state if Gov. Chris Christie opts reschedule the holiday by executive order.

""I can't imagine that's it's going to be safe for kids to go around for Halloween tomorrow night," Christie stated in a northjersey.com report. "I just can't imagine that it would be safe in most parts of the state...We want kids to have Halloween, but I also want kids to be safe."

PSE&G issued the following notice regarding power restoration:

Hurricane Sandy has caused unprecedented damage, twice as much damage as Hurricane Irene.  Many of our facilities were flooded by coastal surges, water-logging our equipment and making our stations and facilities difficult to access.
 
The amount of time it will take to begin working on a specific job may not be known, especially until a full assessment of the damage is done.  Accordingly, at some point in a storm, we begin using a ‘Storm ETR’, or ‘Global ETR’. This is an estimate of when all customers in our territory are expected to be restored.
 
Once the full extent of the damage is known, the ETR may be changed. Customers who have requested a callback will be notified if the ETR changes by more than 2 hours in either direction. Those customers will also be notified when our system indicates their power has been restored.
 
Because there could be additional damage affecting a customer’s service it’s critical that customers call back and let us know if they are still without power. 
 
Our call centers are fully staffed, 24/7 and safely repairing storm damage and restoring power is our number one priority. Call us at 800-436-PSEG (7734)  

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