Madison was hit by a powerful storm Sunday night that dumped more than 4 inches of rain in parts of Morris County and damaged the community’s power supply, leaving thousands of people in the dark.
While power was restored to about 17,000 homes by Monday morning, permanent repairs to downed power lines could take two days, county officials said. More thunderstorms and rain were forecast Monday night, adding to deluges that have caused extensive flooding in Denville, Morristown, Morris Plains, Hanover, Florham Park, Butler and other towns. No other major utility disruptions were reported.
Madison, which received 4.5 inches of rain during the storm, experienced two power outages that affected “all electricity customers, including residents, businesses and educational institutions,” a municipality statement said.
Power restored, then interrupted again
The district gets its power from several feeder lines that carry electricity from outside the community to local substations. Both lines are owned and maintained by JCP&L. A lightning strike and falling tree at 7:30 p.m. Sunday near Brooklake Road caused a line to catch fire and the district-operated utility to lose power.
“The Madison Electric Department, working closely with JCP&L, switched our distribution from main line to branch line,” county officials said. “By 10 p.m., power was restored to most customers, although some homes experienced extended power outages due to a blown transformer that was later replaced.”
Another county-wide outage occurred around 2:30 a.m. Monday when a branch line was not receiving power from JCP&L. “The prolonged outage was caused by a tree that was outside of the heavily trimmed and maintained rights-of-way and took down Madison’s branch line as well as other JCP&L customers,” the statement said.
Madison and JCP&L officials responded immediately, but power remained out for several hours until it was fully restored around 9 a.m.
“We share the frustration of our citizens, particularly with the extended power outage this morning,” officials wrote, adding, “Both outages were due to circumstances beyond our control.”
The Madison utility received power from an alternate hub Monday while permanent repairs are made to the main feeder lines. Those repairs could take up to two days.
“We understand that this morning’s power outage was unusual and very frustrating for all residents, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused,” district officials wrote.
How much rain fell in Morris County?
As of Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service forecast a chance of showers and thunderstorms through Monday evening, with a possible 2.4 inches of rain falling. However, the forecast warned of higher rainfall amounts with thunderstorms.”
The following rainfall amounts from Sunday night’s storm were recorded in Morris County by the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network:
- Boonton: 3.64 inches
- Butlers: 3.26
- Chatham NW: 4.06
- Chester Town: 1.52
- Denville: 2.98″
- Long Hill WSW: 4.54″
- Jefferson SW: 4.06″
- Madison: 4.52″
- Mendham: 2.13 inches
- Mine Hill: 1.44″
- Morris County: 3.87 inches
- Morristown: 4.08″
- Olive mount: 3.17″
- Randolph SE: 3.00″
- Rockaway NNW: 2.82″
- Roxbury: 2.07 inches
In Connecticut and Long Island, rainfall exceeded 10 inches in some areas.
Further flooding: See how much rain fell in North Jersey
County OEM handles 1,000 calls
Throughout Morris County, local authorities reported several floods in the area, leaving some roads impassable.
“The Morris County Communications 911 Center handled over 1,000 calls during the storm,” said Jeffrey Paul, the county’s emergency management director. “We are fortunate to have an incredible team of true first responders who answered a significant number of calls and dispatched our police, fire, EMS and OEM personnel to various calls throughout the county. All of our local first responders, including the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, did a fantastic job.”
Paul used the opportunity to remind residents about flood safety measures after videos appeared on social media showing cars driving through streets with dangerous floodwaters in Morristown.
“During a storm, it is important for the public to cooperate with emergency responders by determining whether the reason for the call is a truly life-threatening emergency before calling 911 during a severe weather event,” Paul wrote. “While every call is answered, any non-emergency call received by 911 can impact response time to immediate, life-threatening emergencies.”
“You also have the power to decide whether it is best for you, your family, friends and first responders to hit the road or attempt to drive through a flooded area,” Paul added. “We want our first responders to ‘not’ have to do such a fantastic job next time!”
William Westhoven is a local reporter at DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news in your community, Please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
E-mail: wwesthoven@www.dailyrecord.com
Twitter/X: @wwesthoven
