Hazlet, Other Monmouth Towns Offer Advice On Flooding, Power

HOLMDEL-HAZLET, NJ — Hazlet has joined Holmdel, Howell, Rumson and other municipalities in the area in offering advice to residents who are buckling down for some bad weather ahead of the Christmas holiday.

In Hazlet, police noted that "We are no meteorologists here at the Hazlet Township Police Department, but we have experienced days when even a slight breeze somehow knocks power out somewhere in town - so it is important to keep our residents informed."

To help, the department posted how to contact JCP&L directly by going to the utility's website.

If the lack of power creates an emergency, Hazlet police asked that residents call the department and officers will assist however they can - although the department can not restore power.

The winds were expected to be high overnight Thursday into Friday and there are flood warnings for the area. Police say to contact them if anyone sees a hazardous condition.

In Rumson, police issued an alert saying that apart from flooding, wind gusts of up to 60 mph are expected. Then wind chills have the potential for a dangerous flash freeze Friday as temperatures drop into the single digits, police there said.

Howell Township posted information on the power restoration process from JCP&L, offering a detailed explanation and diagram.

The post said JCP&L prioritizes:

• Electrical hazards such as downed wires
• Critical facilities
• Outages that restore largest number of customers
• Localized and individual customers

In Holmdel, the township posted information from JCP&L on storm monitoring, including this advice:

"In the event outages occur due to severe weather, customers without power are encouraged to report their outage by calling 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877), clicking the “Report Outage” link on www.firstenergycorp.com, or by texting out to 544487.

"Customers should immediately report downed wires to 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877) or call their local police department.

"JCP&L reminds customers to stay away from downed wires, even if they believe they are no longer carrying electricity. Extra caution should be used in areas where downed lines are tangled with trees or other debris. Motorists are cautioned to treat intersections with inoperable traffic signals as four-way stops."