Sandy Leaves Belleville, Nutley Without Power

Belleville Mayor Ray Kimble said while there was some flooding in the Valley section of the township and people were forced to evacuate from Davidson Street, the township is in fairly good shape.

“The majority of places are closed,” Kimble said, “but the OEM (Office of Emergency Management) worked through the night.”

There were a numerous trees down, he said, but the storm brought mostly wind and not much rain to the township.

The Fairway, which usually floods, did not flood during Hurricane Sandy, Kimble said, and DPW crews have been out cutting down trees throughout the township.

Much of the township lost power, he added, as transformers blew from the storm.

Police Chief Joseph Rotonda added that trees and power lines were the biggest problem facing residents on Tuesday. While many of the township's main streets are open, side streets remained closed for safety reasons.

Kimble also warned residents to avoid any downed wires.

“They may be electric,” he said. Residents should wait till PSE&G can get to them.

Kimble said he was unaware if the township’s two supermarkets – Basics and Silver Lake – were open.

The township shelter at Belleville High School had 15 people last night, he said.

Township of Nutley

The majority of Nutley residents and businesses are without power
Tuesday afternoon after Sandy’s strong winds downed trees and branches
and knocked out power lines throughout the township.

Commissioner Mauro Tucci said portions of as many as 30 roads were closed
because of downed trees and power lines, and that township employees
were working on removing trees. “We are in clean-up mode,” Tucci said.

Nutley Schools will be closed on Wednesday, Oct. 31, according to the
mayor, who did not recommend going forth with Halloween celebrations.
“I don’t believe it is safe to proceed with Halloween as we normally
do. I wouldn’t recommend that everyone go out and trick-or-treat,” he
said.

The mayor said there is no major flooding and that very few traffic
lights are working in town.

In Nutley, Commissioner Joseph P. Scarpelli confirmed about 75 percent of township remains without electricity as of Tuesday afternoon. He had no estimate when power will be restored to residents.

“About 50 streets were closed because of downed power lines and trees limbs,” Scarpelli said. The remaining streets have been opened to traffic.

He said most stores in the township are closed, but Shoprite will probably be open Wednesday using a generator.

Nutley schools will be closed on Wednesday, but municipal offices will be officially closed, with a skeleton crew available to grant permits for emergency construction or demolition.

“There was pretty significant damage by trees to 30 township homes,” Scarpelli said, cautioning this was only an intial assessment.

During the storm, Nutley had several transformer fires throughout last night, he said, but most of the transformer issues were rectified. “The fire department made sure everything was safe and no one got too near to the transformers,” Scarpelli said.The fire department responded to one active fire on Chadwick Drive, he said, and the ambulance squad had a busy night.

The township opened a shelter at the public affairs department building and housed 14 people overnight. Scarpelli said the storm produced mostly wind damage, but no significant flooding, mentioning River Road and the Passaic River as being mostly contained.

Scarpelli said all five departments of the Nutley Office of Emergency Management were “doing a great job responding to the emergency and making sure the streets stayed open.”