South Orange Still Out of Power, Halloween Moved to Friday

Nearly 5000 South Orange residents are without power on Wednesday, according to PSE&G, but some locals, still in the dark, challenge that. "My entire neighborhood and everywhere I can see is dark at 5 p.m." says Jennifer Shapiro. "I think they're undercounting."

Shapiro is not the only resident who feels in the dark on another count too. She has heard from a recorded message at PSEG that South Orange's power might return next week. A PSE&G representative told Patch that statewide figures will be released on Wednesday; local updates aren't now being provided.

The Village advises residents to contact PSE&G  to report power issues. at  800-436-7734. 

In nearby Maplewood, Mayor Vic DeLuca said that four PSE&G crews are in town working on primary lines. He further explained the situation:

I just got off a call with PSE&G. Power sub-stations, which transfer power from the grid, are out. There are six in the Newark area out at this time. It will take up to a day or two to get them back to a fully charged state. After that they will focus on 50 transmission line that take power to local communities. There are 250,000 customers in Essex County without power. We will see restoration on a rolling basis over the next three to five days. There was tremendous devastation with the PSEG grid and they are working on a repair protocol that goes from the sub-stations to the individual customer.

Patch will update this as more information becomes available.