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Nearly 6,000 customers lost electricity on Monday, Dec. 23, and the vast majority were in Manchester Township. The outages began around 8 a.m. as daytime temperatures hovered at 23 degrees and plunged to the low teens overnight.
Manchester police discussed the response to the massive power outage in a news release on Tuesday, Dec. 24. Officers estimated about 5,200 Whiting residents had no electricity at the height of the outage.
The Jersey Central Power & Light website showed just six customers in Manchester without power as of 12:16 p.m. and a 12:31 p.m. update showed all customers had power in the township. However, at least 500 didn't get their electricity turned back on until earlier that morning.
Police issued reverse 911 calls, Nixle alerts, and social media updates to keep residents informed throughout the day. Officers also conducted welfare checks to ensure vulnerable residents were safe during the outage.
Two daytime warming centers were set up and the Red Cross opened an overnight one at Manchester Township High School. Police and the township's school district provided transportation for residents who couldn't drive to warming centers.
Several traffic lights in the area were impacted, forcing police to manually direct vehicles for several hours until power was restored.
"This incident represented a large-scale, multi-agency response where every organization worked hand-in-hand with one another and the community to ensure the safety and well-being of all affected residents," the police department said. "The coordination and cooperation displayed throughout the response exemplify the strong relationships between local, county, and volunteer agencies and their unwavering commitment to the public."
Other groups that assisted included Manchester Township EMS, the Whiting Volunteer Fire Company, the Manchester Volunteer Fire Company, the Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company, Brick Township EMS, the Manchester Township Office of Emergency Management, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, and the county health department.
The outage also affected 173 customers in Lacey Township, police said.
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