Irene: Crews Work to Clear Fallen Trees From Roads

Patch has been and will continue to provide up-to-the-minute coverage of Hurricane Irene through our Live Chat feature.

Although the Bridgewater Township Police Department has not yet received any rescue calls, officers and Department of Public Works employees are busy cleaning up the mess of debris and trees that have fallen in the township at the hands of Hurricane Irene.

According to Robert Szkodny, coordinator for Bridgewater's Office of Emergency Management, a 100-foot tree has fallen across the eastbound and westbound lanes of Route 22, near Vosseller Avenue.

Bridgewater Township Police Chief Richard Borden said the biggest issues are in the Martinsville area, where trees have fallen across roadways, including on Washington Valley Road, Mountain Avenue, Vosseller Avenue and others.

"And the state Department of Transportation is out for the 100-foot tree," he said. "It fell from the north side of the road."

Szkodny said there have been sporadic local road closures due to flooding, including on Leghorn Avenue, Foothill Road and Brahma Avenue.

"There has been flooding under certain overpasses," he said.

Borden said there were some flooding issues on Route 22 overnight, then there was a break in the rain and the water receded.

"But now we are worried that the rain is kicking up," he said. "In Toms River, the rain has stopped, so we're hoping the storm is moving north and we're going to get a break here."

In terms of flooding, Borden said the biggest issue is the fact that people have been calling the police department with flooded basements—and the water cannot be pumped out unless there is power.

Power outages have been sporadic around town because of trees coming down on the lines, Borden said.

PSE&G is currently reporting more than 5,000 people in Bridgewater are without power. JCP&L is reporting 83 residents without power.

But Borden asks that residents not call 911 concerning flooded basements, and that they call the police department's main number—908-722-4111—instead.

"We will put them on a list, there is a long list of residents to get to [for pumping out basements]," he said. "But the residents need to have power because there is nothing the fire departments can do if there is none."

As for road closures, Borden said some county ones are closed, particularly in the south side of the county, which got hit harder so far than the north side.

But for Bridgewater, Borden said, the biggest concern is the trees coming down and debris in the roadways, which the DPW is taking care of as quickly as possible.

"We don't know what impacts the trees can still have because we still have a few more hours of the storm, and the ground is continuing to get saturated," he said. "There are numerous trees in the roadways, and the DPW is getting to them as fast as they can."

"They're doing an excellent job of getting to the problems, and so are the officers and the emergency response people," he added.

Borden said the township has fortunately not had any life-threatening situations at this point.

"We lucked out with the tree falling across Route 22 that it didn't make contact with anyone or any cars because that would have been a disastrous situation," he said.

And Szkodny said there have been no rescue squad calls in Bridgewater, nor has the town had to evacuate anyone.

"The last count I got for the shelter at Raritan Valley Community College was that there are only 36 people," he said. "We have not had to take anybody to a shelter yet."

But, Borden said, the police department is advising people to remain in their homes until the roadways are clear.

"There is no reason to go out unless you have an emergency medical situation and then we will get to you," he said. "There is no reason to go out to anything. The mall is closed, we don't know what restaurants are actually open and we haven't seen much traffic."

"We want people to use common sense, don't leave your residence unless you really need to," he added. "Hopefully you have everything you need in your home."