The National Weather Service warns of 'renewed power outages' in area under watch.
Phillipsburg public works employees work to clear a tree from Corliss Ave. and Frost Ave. on Oct. 29.
Hunterdon County is under a high-wind watch Wednesday into Thursday that could cause renewed power outages, forecasters warned today.
The nor’easter forecast comes as 43 percent of customers in that county affected by Superstorm Sandy remained without power tonight, in addition to about a third of customers affected in Warren County.
The high-wind watch issued this afternoon by the National Weather Service at Mount Holly, N.J., does not apply to the Lehigh Valley or Warren County. But rain and snow are forecast across the region with the coming storm.
In Hunterdon, the watch warns: “Structures and trees weakened by last week's storm may be further damaged by another round of high winds. This can also result in renewed power outages, particularly in areas where the electrical system remains in a weakened state.”
Debris from last week’s storm could also pose a threat if light enough to become airborne.
'Horrible' week
Jean Rissmiller, of Phillipsburg, used one word to describe the past week without power: "Horrible."
Rissmiller said Jersey Central Power & Light told her and about 30 neighbors they were at the end of the list to have power restored because, in their neighborhood, there are so few on the grid.
“I’m lighting candles and using flashlights,” she said. “Thank God I have a gas stove.”
She’s also been using the burners on her stove to heat up the house the best she can and cooking and sharing with her daughter, who lives nearby.
Her son, Harley Payette, 43, has colon cancer and frequently uses a heating pad to ease body pain. She doesn’t want to go to a shelter because she has two dogs.
Across the Delaware River, Williams Township resident Linda Harper said she has been spending about $150 per day for propane to run a generator since the storm hit Oct. 29 and 30.
Residents there need electricity for water and the septic systems, she said, but she also needs power to run her mother’s oxygen machine.
“We absolutely have to have it,” she said of the generator. “We ran it 24 hours a day since last Monday.”
Stephanie Strausser, who lives on Lincoln Street in Phillipsburg, said her block is still without electricity. Strausser spent a few nights at a hotel and one night in her house but as of today was staying with friends.
She’s searching for a generator now to prevent her pipes from freezing, but she isn’t concerned about herself; she’s more worried about her neighbors.
One of her neighbors lost their roof and had a utility pole crack the neighbor’s rear windshield. The pole was still there today.
“(The utility company) hasn’t even come and looked at our block,” she said. “Other people have problems, but they should at least come and take that pole off her car.”
JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano said today most customers will have power back by Wednesday, though the utility’s website says a small portion will have to wait until Saturday.
“Our estimates haven’t changed,” he said.
No work in high winds
And that’s even with this week’s nor’easter forecast. As long as the winds are below 40 mph, crews will be in buckets doing line work, he said.
The storm taking shape today in the Gulf of Mexico was expected to begin its march up the coast, eventually passing within 50 to 100 miles of the wounded New Jersey coastline Wednesday. The storm was expected to bring winds of up to 55 mph, coastal flooding, up to 2 inches of rain along the shore and several inches of snow to Pennsylvania and New York.
One of the biggest fears was that the storm could bring renewed flooding to parts of the shore where Sandy wiped out natural beach defenses and protective dunes.
“It’s going to impact many areas that were devastated by Sandy,” said Bruce Terry, the lead forecaster for the National Weather Service. “It will not be good.”
Some communities were considering again evacuating neighborhoods that were hit hard by Sandy and where residents had only recently been allowed to return. No town had made a final decision to do so as of tonight.
Staff members Peter Panepinto and Kurt Bresswein and The Associated Press contributed to this report.