JCP&L Providing Ice and Water to Residents

The township sent out an email on Friday afternoon announcing that JCP&L has set up water and ice stations at three spots in the county for those residents still without power.

The closest location for Howell residents is at the Circle Factory Outlet located at 1407 Atlantic Ave. in Wall while the others are at Monmouth Park in Oceanport and the Holy Family Church in Hazlet. 

As of 1:40 on Friday afternoon JCP&L was still reporting 15,863 residents were without power. By Thursday evening many developments, particularly on the west side of town had reported having their power restored which helped drop the total number of outages from more than 20 thousand where it had been earlier in the day. 

Howell Schools have been closed all week and Superintendent Enid Golden said the board of education is monitoring the situation to see when students will be back in their classes. "Although power is our primary concern, issues such as fuel, food, and staff availability, are factors to be considered," she said. "The cancellation of the teacher's conference next Thursday and Friday will allow us to amend our calendar and open our schools if we have power."

Golden said a decision on whether schools will open will be made on Sunday. Howell Schools are also scheduled to be closed on Tuesday for Election Day and according to an email from the Mayor and Council the election is scheduled to be held as scheduled. 

Those residents who are interested can vote in person between today and Monday at the Board of Elections Office located at 300 Halls Mill Road in Freehold. The office is open today until 6 pm. and tomorrow and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Voters can download the Vote By Mail Application, which is also being used for voting in person.

Monmouth County Clerk Claire French said efforts are underway to make the Election Day process as smooth as possible despite the difficult situation. There are 425,635 registered voters in Monmouth County," she said. "And we are making sure everybody has the opportunity to cast their vote in teh wake of the storm."

For residents in places where they may not be able to get to their poling places alternate locations are being established and a full list of those sites will be available on the Monmouth County website on Saturday.

The township is still operating five water stations as well. They are open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. until further notice. The locations are:

1. Southard Fire House - Rt 9 N (please enter through the Town Hall Municipal Building on Rt 9 North) 
2. Adelphia Fire House - Rt. 524 
3. Ramtown Fire House - Ramtown Greenville Road 
4. Howell Township Department of Public Works - Old Tavern Road 
5. Howell 1st Aid Building - Kent Road 
6. Freewood Acres Fire House - 17 East 5th Street 
7. Famingdale Fire House - Main Street 

Several gas stations in the town have also opened up but their supplies have run out as cars have lined up for long waits to fill up their tanks. The Wawas at White Street and Kent Road have been among the most popular but the Shell Station on Route 9 North and the Exxon station on Route 9 South both opened for business on Friday. The Gulf Station on Route 9 near Aldrich had opened on Thursday but was not open as of Friday morning. 

Residents who wish to go to one of the shelters being run by the county or who have any non-emergency storm related questions or concerns are encouraged to call the Emergency Operations Center at 732-938-4111.