Time out - thank-you linemen for restoring power in NJ

As many of you know from reports on various media outlets, New Jersey and environs in adjoining Pennsylvania and New York have seen two nor'easters in the last several days with one more on the way tonight. Unless the storm tonight takes a turn to the west, this storm is likely to have a more severe impact on Eastern Long Island and Southern New England.

These two nor'easters, one on March 2nd and the second on March 7th hit New Jersey and environs hit New Jersey hard with 200 to 300,000 outages or more during each storm. Crews were not quite finished restoring power from the March 2nd storm when the second nor'easter hit. Utility crews from around the country came to help restore power. So, I want to take a time out from my usual blogging to say that I am ok, I get through the storm better then some in my area of New Jersey.

Before getting back to the utility crews, I would be remiss not to give a shout out to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS). I know that sometimes NJFFS crews help with post-storm clean up in New Jersey State property.  I do not know whether are not NJFFS have been helping with such post-storm clean up. At the very least I want to acknowledge that they are ready and willing to do so should their help be required.

But more importantly and to the point is to thank the utility crews for spending days away from their families working 16 hour shifts. See this March 12th report from First Energy on restoration efforts in their service area in New Jersey (where I live). Most of those who lost power during the March 2nd storm had the power restored by Saturday, March 10th with the majority of the remaining outages being restored to service on March 11th.

There were a couple of staging areas for utility crews, where crews from out of state could sleep in trailers, take showers, and eat in a common dining area. In addition supplies including but not limited to utility poles, wires, and transformers were at these staging areas. New Jersey Advance Media. New Jersey Advance Media (aka NJ dot com) had a nice photo spread on March 8th that included images of destruction caused by the most recent storm along with photos from one of the utility staging areas. That photo spread and article may be found here with photos of the utility staging area starting at photo 24 through photo 36. I don't have my own photos to share with you, but I do hope that you take a few moments to look at the photos from NJ Advance Media.

Thank-you all utility linemen, support crew, etc. who worked so hard to restore power to us in New Jersey and adjoining states. You work is appreciated. You spent time away from your families working long days to help us out. Stay safe.