Tropical Storm Isaias left its mark on New Jersey.
More than half a million customers of PSE&G were left in the dark. Chief Operating Officer Kim Hanemann says they’re calling for help from all over.
“We have been reaching out throughout the country,” she said, “as far away as Canada, Missouri, and Florida for contractors and crews to assist us in the restoration and we continue to reach out to increase those resources to help us restore more quickly.”
Hanemann said it could be Monday before everyone has power back. She said 85% of customers may be restored by Friday.
She said the storm ranks right up there with Hurricanes Floyd and Irene in terms of the damage it caused. But she did point to one bright spot. “I can say our inside plant, our substations, fared this storm much better than it did back with Floyd,” she said, “but it was a significant, significant storm for us.”
Hanemann said the COVID protocols the utility has in place may slow things down, but they are necessary. “Our crews are working around the clock both during the day and overnight shifts,” she said, “and we have the additional challenge of the COVID protocols that we have put in place to keep our customers safe and keep our employees safe too.”
She said critical facilities like hospitals are of course the top priority, followed by outages that will restore the most customers.
She urged those without power to communicate with the company through its app to find out when power might be restored.
PSE&G has set up comfort stations where people can get free water and ice. Locations and hours will be on PSEG on Facebook and Twitter @PSEGdelivers.
Throughout New Jersey, more than a million people lost power because of Isaias.