Power Is Slowly Restored to Tri-State Region After October Snowstorm

People stand in Central Park on Saturday during the snowstorm. The storm destroyed as many as 1,000 trees in the park. Flickr/skinnylawyer.

Power is slowly returning to the Tri-State regions hit hardest by a record-setting storm that dumped snow across the Northeast last weekend.

On Nov. 3, New Jersey’s two major utilities said they hoped to have electricity restored by midnight to the 91,000 people remaining without power. New Jersey Transit trains are still suspended between Hackettsown and Lake Hopatcong.

In New York, about 35,000 are still without power. From a utility standpoint, the storm had the most powerful impact on Connecticut, where 433,000 customers remain in the dark and at least eight deaths have been reported.

Here’s a breakdown of how the storm affected the Tri-State region:

New Jersey

• In parts of northern New Jersey, snow piled up to 19 inches, reported Reuters.
• Four people were killed by the storm.
• Gov. Chris Christie, whose home lost power during the storm, said that the snowstorm cleanup will be worse than the cleanup after Tropical Storm Irene, reported the Star-Ledger. There are 1,200 state transportation workers and 1,000 utility workers currently working on the mess.
• Thousands of trees were downed, damaging homes and cars across the state.

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NJToday reports on the snowstorm’s fallout. Video courtesy of NJToday.

New York

• In New York City, snow didn’t pile up as it did in other parts of the state, but streets were left covered in slush.
• Three people were killed.
• City parks were closed all weekend due to the danger of falling tree branches. The New York Times reported that as many as 1,000 trees may have been destroyed in Central Park.
• North of the city, some motorists were stranded on highways for up to 10 hours, and Metro-North rails were closed over the weekend, reported the Atlantic Journal Constitution.
• Occupy Wall Street protesters got their first taste of the coming winter. On Friday, the Fire Department had removed the protesters’ generators from Zuccotti Park, leaving the Occupation without electricity or hot meals as the snow fell, reported CBS News. The protesters came up with a new source of power on Monday: bicycle-powered generators, reported the Huffington Post.

Connecticut

• Gov. Dannel Malloy said the storm caused the highest number of power outages in the state’s history, reported Reuters.
• President Barack Obama signed a federal emergency declaration for Connecticut on Oct. 31, reported the Hartford Courant.
• At least two deaths were caused by the storm, reported ABC News.
• More than 70 percent of Hartford was without power on Saturday.