Holmdel Mayor: Power Restoration Effort Thwarted Last Night

By interviewing line workers in utility trucks yesterday, Holmdel Mayor Patrick Impreveduto learned that a huge area of Holmdel -- from Crawfords Corner Road to the area west of Route 34 -- was supposed be back online yesterday. 

But they encountered some kind of unexplained problem and the electricity was not restored, he said. 

"It was supposed to be up and running last night," said the mayor today around 11 a.m. He said the trucks seen massing at Holmdel High School have been being dispatched to various locations in the township to repair damage from Hurricane Sandy, but if winds build in advance of the nor'easter to more than 40 mph, workers will have to withdraw. 

The mayor put out a Code Red message to residents moments earlier, informing them that Town Hall is closed for the rest of the week, and that a 24-hour relief center at the Community Center will open at noon. 

He wanted to assure residents that Holmdel officials are "doing everything humanly possible to get everything restored."  

"Once this storm is over I will continue to demand JCP&L give us answers," said Impreveduto, who has personally not had power restored for more than a week. Like many in southern Holmdel, he is double-jinxed because electricity powers their household well water access.  

He dismissed a FirstEnergy outage map that says 30 percent of Holmdel is without power. "There is no way in God's creation that 70 percent have power in Holmdel. These figures haven't been accurate since the beginning," he said. 

Patch's attempts to reach JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano have not been successful.