Travel ban lifted in New Jersey
The travel ban on the state's roads has been lifted.
Gov, Chris Christie announced at about 7:40 a.m. that the ban had been lifted but encouraged people to limit travel and be careful.
"New Jerseyans should continue to stay off the roads whenever possible throughout the day as transportation and public safety officials continue their work to clear the roadways from the snowfall. New Jerseyans should abide by all traffic laws and be extremely cautious if they must travel today," the governor's office said in a statement.
There is still snow in the forecast. An inch or two is expected to fall on Morris County today with the temperature reaching a high of only 27 and the wind blowing at 11 to 13 mph.
Christie had declared a state of emergency Monday, paving the way for crews to prepare roads in advance of a blizzard that seems to have left less snow and been shorter in duration that expected.
Snowfall totals overnight in the Morris County area ranged from as little as an inch in the Morristown area to just short of four inches in Lake Hopatcong.
Due to the dire forecast that predicted a foot or more of snow, schools were closed throughout the county and many businesses told employees to stay home.
READ ALSO: Some in Morris a little disappointed by mild storm http://dailyre.co/1CbYbVu
SEE PHOTO GALLERY: Your snow pictures http://dailyre.co/1JXgQUd
NJ Transit train service remains suspended. Christie says service will resume following federal inspections.
Christie says buses are running in south Jersey. The governor says bus service in north Jersey should resume by 11 a.m., if not sooner.
PATH service is expected to resume.
Ferries are operating on modified schedules.
Christie told Channel 7 news Tuesday morning that there had been about 75 reported outages in New Jersey and that the storm "has been a nonevent from a power outage perspective.''
He said he wasn't wrong to ban travel, despite the eventual lack of snowfall.
"I was being told as late as 9 o'clock last night that we were looking at 20-inch accumulations in most of New Jersey. If, in fact, that is what would have happened, having these types of things in effect were absolutely the right decision to make. And so listen you all were on TV practically 24 hours talking about this based on what you were being told and we were acting based on what we were being told,'' he said.
SEE PREVIOUS STORY: Morris prepares for blizzard; advisories, postponements http://dailyre.co/1JJt4Qe
Roxbury students sing "All About That Snow" . . .
WEATHER:
County roads
According to Scott DiGiralomo, Morris County emergency management coordinator, county roads were made ready for the storm on Monday.
"All our vehicles are out on county roads," he said. "There are more than 35 dump trucks and 70 contractors, and they'll be running 24 hours to try to keep the roads clear. The county has more than 10,000 tons of salt in place to deal with the storm."
The county's Emergency Operations Center was opened at noon Monday on a limited basis and will be staffed through Tuesday night, DiGiralomo said. The EOC fulfills requests for resources and dispatches needed information to other county agencies and municipal governments.
SEE PHOTOS: Morris prepares for 'potentially historic' blizzard http://dailyre.co/1C7nSGP
Power lines
With some reports predicting wind gusts that could approach hurricane strength, JCP&L issued a release Monday announcing it has activated its storm preparation plan. According to Tony Hurley, vice president of operations, 100 additional line personnel have been activated in New Jersey to help with outages, if needed.
"We are centralizing restoration efforts at our Red Bank headquarters where our company Incident Management Team can efficiently monitor the impact of the storm," Hurley said. The team coordinates available resources to make repairs.
READ ALSO: National Weather Service: 'Deepest apologies' http://dailyre.co/1JWGLeO
- - -
Tell us what you see
We want to know what's going on in your neighborhood, your roads, and on your commute, too, so we can share with our readers.
Let us know what you see, including measured inch counts in your area, photos and video. Post your updates on our Facebook page www.Facebook.com/DailyRecordNJ, send a tweet to @DailyRecord on Twitter using the hashtag #DRstorm, upload to www.DailyRecord.com/Share or email eabreu@dailyrecord.com.
- - -
- - -
Plans for homeless
With 13,900 homeless men, women, and children statewide, according to the NJ Counts census taken last January, provisions have been made for them during the blizzard.
"There should be no one outside. Everything is put in place," said Lisa Falcone, director of homeless outreach services for the Mental Health Association of Morris County, which activated its plan Monday.
Any homeless people who call the 211 human services hotline when the Morris County Office of Temporary Assistance is closed will be picked up and brought to a motel, according to Falcone. The Office of Temporary Assistance will pay for the motel stay.
"At any time, if anyone is near a police station, they can sleep overnight in that police station," Falcone said. "That's also true for train stations. They can sleep in the train stations."
She explained that her staff will be available on their cellphones for the duration of the blizzard and its aftermath.
"Also, all the other clients who are in supportive housing have access to us through this time," Falcone explained. "We've already dropped off food to anyone who is in a motel through the Office of Temporary Assistance and out of food."
Warming station
Any citizen is invited to drop into the Morristown firehouse, which will serve as a warming station, according to the Office of Mayor Timothy Dougherty. The firehouse is located at 161 Speedwell Ave. and will be open for two overnights.
SEE ALSO: Morris shoppers storm grocery stores as snowfall starts http://dailyre.co/1C8eUcr
Poison control
Experience from prior storms has taught the Newark-based New Jersey Poison Center that severe weather can lead to unintentional poisonings and exposures.
"Major storms like the one we will be expecting later today into Tuesday are known to result in illness and even deaths from hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning, as well as exposures to a variety of substances," said Steven Marcus, executive and medical director of the center.
Exposures to carbon monoxide often occur, he explained, when people try to heat their homes with space heaters and portable generators that run on kerosene, propane or natural gas without proper ventilation. Danger ensues when too much carbon monoxide is trapped in a poorly ventilated area.
Anyone who suspects carbon monoxide poisoning should take immediate action, Marcus said, adding that the NJ Poison Experts hotline —1-800-222-1222 —is available to offer immediate advice at all times, even through the storm.
"Many of the calls we get are genuine emergencies," Marcus said, adding that poisons may act very quickly.
Other immediate actions that can be taken include:
•Remove a loved one who is unconscious or unresponsive from the house and call 911 immediately;
•Exit the house, or building, immediately. Do not waste time opening windows to air it out;
•Contact the nearest local fire department or energy provider.
Government offices
After the governor declared a state of emergency Monday, New Jersey state offices closed at 1 p.m. and will remain closed Tuesday.
Morris County offices started a staggered dismissal as of 2:30 p.m. Monday but only for nonessential personnel, according to Morris County Administrator John Bonanni. He could not anticipate whether county offices would reopen Tuesday.
Lorraine Ash: 973-428-6660; lash@njpressmedia.com