As the sun sets on Howell Township Sunday night, JCP&L is reporting that more than 8000 people are without power as of 8:15 p.m. According to Township Manager Helene Schlegel, crews from the utility company are going to be working round the clock to bring that number down.
Schlegel said steps are being taken to bring the township back to working order as it was before the arrival of Hurricane Irene. Schlegel said she had no sense of when the power grid would be fully back in tact in Howell.
One part of the town that has returned to normal is Route 9 is now open the length of the roadway after being closed from Strickland to Casino. Schlegel said while that road is open again there are several more rural roads that are still closed. That includes roads with crossings over the Manasquan River and its tributaries, according to Schlegel.
Find out what's happening in Howellwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
As of 5 p.m. on Sunday night the travel ban was officially lifted as the township administration works to bring life back to normal in Howell. An email from the mayor and council said that while the ban has been lifted Route 9 will remain closed from Casino Drive up to Strickland Road. A few hours later, that road was reopened to regular traffic.
Other roads and bridges near the Manasquan River are also still closed. The email identified the West Farms Road Bridge as the only one in the township that drivers can currently used. Drivers are encouraged to stay off the roads until tomorrow at the very least.
Find out what's happening in Howellwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
For those residents who still have no power, the email said JCP&L has crews working on the problems throughout town. As of 11:30 this morning, trucks could be seen in Pointe O'Woods where residents had been without power since 11:30 Saturday night. The mayor and council said because of the widespread problems there was no way to estimate when power would be fully restored.
With power being restored, cleanup efforts are also getting underway. The recycling center will have a seven day schedule to help with the effort of taking people's debris. A schedule is also being devised for going through the township to collect broken trees and limbs and other pieces of bulk garbage. The process of cleaning up from the storm could take several weeks according to the email.
Schlegel said Town Hall will be open for all regular business on Monday morning as scheduled.
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