Irene: Stormy Night, Stormy Morning

When Hurricane Irene first appeared late Saturday, it came in the form of a steady rain. Now downgraded to a tropical storm, that rain continues with varying strength, along with periodically gusty winds. So far, the storm has left Parsippany with many closed roads—some impassable, flooded basements and fallen trees.

Emergency workers toiled all night. Parsippany's Rescue and Recovery Squad first responders kept busy pumping out basements with the help of fire crews. Office of Emergency Management workers and police officers labored through the wee hours to keep streets and residents safe. Municipal workers, such as the sewer and water employees, spent the hours working to clear flooded areas. Utility teams worked to deal with downed power lines. And Mayor James Barberio spent the night traveling through the township to assess problem situations.

A drive through Parsippany makes it clear: Irene is not yet finished with us. The rain still falls steadily even as the sun shines. Roadways are covered with tree branches and leaves, making already slick streets even more slippery, and visibility, even with morning's light apparent through gray skies, remains poor.

A number of road closures are ongoing, according to Parsippany Police:

• Edwards Road at Old Bloomfield Avenue (flooding)
• Route 46 between Beverwyck and Baldwin roads (flooding)
• Route 46 East at North Beverwyck Road (flooded, impassable near Holiday Inn)Route 46 West at New Road (flooding under I-80)
• Route 46 East under I-80 (flooded, not passable)
• South Beverwyck Road at the S-turn (flooding)
• Jefferson Road at East Halsey Road (flooding)
• Friar Road (flooding)
• Smith Road near Fire District 6 substation (flooding)Buckingham Road (flooding)
• Route 10 at Route 202/Littleton Road (flooding)
• Intervale Drive from Route 46 to Lake Drive
• Route 53 in both directions at Mount Tabor (tree down)

Additionally, police say Route 46 East and West at Veterans Park is flooded and not passable, Route 46 at Arlington Plaza is "worsening," Mazdabrook Road is flooded from health facility Care One at Morris (100 Mazadabrook Rd.) to Smith Road, Buckingham Road is flooded and that Parsippany Blvd. near Tivoli Gardens and the main roadway through Troy Hills Village are experiencing rising waters.
Parsippany officials still urge drivers to stay off of the roadways—continued flooding and falling trees and branches make them very dangerous.

Until Sunday morning, the municipality's Evacuation Staging Center at Lake Hiawatha Elementary School saw no evacuees. Some residents from the Lake Parsippany area had to be evacuated from their homes due to flooding; they were taken to the Fire Department District 3 building.

One family finally did choose to take refuge at Lake Hiawatha School when they woke up to find the back section of their Edwards Road home filled with water. Ivy Akpatsu and her sons, 20-year-old Stefan and 18-year-old twins David and Daniel, are originally from the African country of Ghana. (Akpatsu's husband is a soldier who works with United Nations peacekeeping forces.) The family moved to Parsippany about six months ago.  

"We will wait here until the storm is over and then see if the house is okay," she said. "If it's bad, we will have to decide what to do. I'm still trying to figure this all out. We don't have these hurricanes in Ghana."

The Akpatsus chose to come to the school center, and for most residents evacuation is not mandatory, at least, not yet. Some may not want to sit at home, however: Many homes are without power. 

As of 9:30 a.m., more than 300,000 PSE&G customers throughout the state are experiencing power outages (About 70,000 have had service restored, the utility said). Meanwhile, JCP&L reports that about 200 of its township customers have lost electricity. Power restoration can not begin until Irene finishes her business, when utility employees can work safely. Depending upon the extent of storm damage, fully restoring electricity could take as long as five to seven days, said PSE&G spokesperson Karen Johnson.

If your utility is PSE&G and you have lost power, call 800-436-PSEG for help. If your company is JCP&L, call 888-LIGHTSS.