Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow
Governor declares emergency, letting police close roads
Published in the Asbury Park Press 1/23/05
By NICHOLAS CLUNN,
JOSEPH SAPIA
and RODNEY POINT-DU-JOUR
STAFF WRITERS
A monster winter storm hammered the Shore area Saturday, creating dangerous driving conditions, slowing traffic to a crawl and causing numerous crashes.
Acting Gov. Codey declared a state of emergency that started at 8 p.m. Saturday and would continue until 8 a.m. today, giving police the authority to close roads. The National Weather Service's winter storm warning was to be in effect until 10 a.m. today.
By early evening Saturday, police in Monmouth and Ocean counties reported no major crashes, but they were bracing for the worst. Forecasters predicted that the storm could leave up to 18 inches of snow in some areas, with winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts to 40 mph possible overnight.
Early Saturday, many Shore area residents hit grocery and hardware stores with a vengeance, as they prepared to hunker down before the storm took over.
Behind the counter at Jaspen Hardware on Main Street in Manasquan, 15-year-old cashier Jeanne Valente rang up a steady stream of customers buying mostly rock salt, windshield scrapers and snow shovels. The store sold all five snow blowers it had.
"We haven't stopped since we opened," said Valente, who started working at 8 a.m.
Terry Schroder, a 70-year-old Brielle resident, was among those shoppers who actually needed to see snow before buying the things needed to remove it.
"I'm not that bright," he joked.
The first significant snowfall of the season brought out its share of revelers, too, many of them children who found conditions perfect for snowball fights and sledding.
But Police Chief Michael Bradley of Long Beach Township was most concerned about icy roads once the temperatures dropped.
"Right now we have slushy conditions, and the county trucks are out doing their best, but the reality is there will be ice," he said.
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The weather service, in addition to the general storm advisory, advised of the possibility of tidal flooding along the ocean and Raritan Bay into today. The advisory was put out because of winds blowing tidal water back inland, according to the weather service.
"The only thing we've been getting through our (county) dispatch is spinouts and minor traffic accidents," said Sgt. Mike Osborne of the Ocean County Sheriff's Department, speaking around mid-afternoon Saturday.
The department activated the county's "Emergency Operations Center" with a skeleton crew at noon Saturday to be ready in case of any weather problems, said Osborne, who is the day-to-day director of the Office of Emergency Management. The center operates within the emergency management office at Robert J. Miller Airpark in Berkeley Township.
The center would provide assistance such as transporting essential county, municipal and medical facility personnel who could not make it into work, Osborne said. The center had four-wheel drive sport-utility vehicles available to do the transporting, Osborne said. Lots of afternoon traffic
Most police departments reported snowy, slick or slushy conditions through late Saturday afternoon. Most departments said accidents were few, and those were minor. But conditions deteriorated into the evening.
Both Scott Waters, general supervisor of roads for the Ocean County Road Deparment, and Dover Township Police Chief Michael Mastronardy had the same observation: There was a lot of traffic, despite the snowfall.
"For some reason, there's a lot of traffic on the road today," said Waters, speaking in mid-afternoon.
"Traffic is flowing; everywhere I look there's cars," said Mastronardy, as he cruised his town during mid-afternoon. "People are getting their errands in."
Manchester police Sgt. John Tomasulo said there were more fender-benders in parking lots than on the roadways during the afternoon.
"As long as the power stays on, everything should be OK," Tomasulo said. "If the power goes out, there is a list of people who will need assistance."
Ocean County had 80 of its own trucks, with plows and spreaders, out by mid-afternoon, Waters said. The county also had outside contractors assisting with an estimated 20 trucks, with another 15 available from contractors if needed.
The county has 620 miles of road of its own, plus it maintains all municipal roads in Plumsted and, if needed, those in Eagleswood, Waters said.
John Aceto, a dispatcher for Grone's Towing Service on Route 9 in Toms River, said he will have six trucks on the road through the night.
"By tomorrow (Sunday) we could answer 100 calls," Aceto said. "We'll be removing cars that went off the road and no-starts.
"It's going to be a very busy night," Aceto said. Enjoying the day
When Carol Kurek left her Point Pleasant Beach home for a shopping trip Saturday morning, gray clouds filled the sky, but they weren't dropping snow. She thought the forecasters had made a mistake.
"Ha, Ha. They were wrong again," she remembered thinking. But it was Kurek who erred. She found out that forecasters were dead on when she left the Jenkinson's Boardwalk gift shop after about an hour inside. Snow had dusted just about everything.
Joshua Specht, 24, of Long Branch, who shoveled snow away from Jenkinson's arcade, said he would rather make change for customers and fix games inside.
"I'd rather be helping customers because time moves a lot faster," he said.
In Stafford, about 2 • to 3 inches of snow had fallen by about 3:30 p.m., said Tom Preiser, a township resident who is coordinator of Ocean County Skywarn, volunteer observers for the National Weather Service.
"A lot of people are starting on their driveways ahead of time, so they don't have to do so much later on," Preiser said. "I'm thinking of doing that myself."
Drivers on Ocean County portions of the Garden State Parkway around 2 p.m. moved steadily, but the pace of traffic meant top speeds of 20 mph. No go on account of snow
The storm wiped out many high school sporting events, and the Monmouth University men's and women's basketball games scheduled for Saturday.
It also forced the postponement of an auction to benefit the Tomaino Children's Fund. That is now scheduled for 2 to 7 p.m. next Saturday at The Headliner, Route 35, Neptune.
The auction will raise funds for the three children of Michele and Michael Tomaino of Toms River. The children have a rare, incurable brain disease that requires stem-cell transplants.
Hillel High School postponed its Scholastic Assessment Test and Subject Test scheduled for this morning at the school on Deal Road, Ocean Township.
Ben Leibowitz, director of college guidance and SAT coordinator for the school, said the test will be given at 8 a.m. Feb. 6. He expects some 40 students from various schools to take the test.
Ocean County Mall, on Hooper Avenue in Dover Township, closed at 5 p.m.
Susan Howlett, the mall's marketing manager, said every effort was being made for the mall to open on time at 11 a.m. today.
The Jackson Outlet Village also closed early -- at 5 p.m. It was scheduled to re-open at 10 a.m. today.
The storm hit restaurants hard, too.
Saturday nights are usually the busiest time of the week at the Windansea Restaurant in Highlands, but the eatery closed early.
"Always on a Saturday these storms come, no Mondays," said owner Rob Higgins, who closed the restaurant for dinner after getting a slow daytime crowd. "Business has been kind of nonexistent today." Snow business
Convenience stores, supermarkets and gasoline stations in Monmouth and Ocean counties were jammed Saturday morning and afternoon with people readying for the storm just as the snow was starting to fall.
Bob Baggitt, 71, of Upper Freehold went to the Shop-Rite in Washington Township.
"The lines were 50 feet (long)," Baggitt said. "Lines all over the place. Only meat left was hamburger meat.
"You go by (the supermarket in New Egypt), and you can't get in the parking lot," said Baggitt, as he ran an errand in New Egypt.
Baggitt was at the New Egypt Agway, making a routine run for feed for his horses.
By mid-morning, the Agway felt the crush of customers worried about the storm. They were buying "mostly salt, shovels, windshield washer (fluid)," said Cindy Everett, a clerk at the Agway.
At the Sunoco APlus at the corner of Routes 537 and 526-571 in Jackson, the convenience store did a steady business, and vehicles were three or four in four lines at the gasoline pumps, where there normally are no more than two vehicles in a line.
"I know they're buying a lot of milk and bread," said Ken Surgent, a manager at the Sunoco APlus.
The store's delicatessen -- which makes to-order sandwiches and sells lunch meat -- was being shut down early Saturday afternoon as the roads got slippery, Surgent said. The deli was closing so at least its employees could go home, he said.
"I've got to make sure my people can get home safe," Surgent said.
The deli likely would not be open today because no bread delivery was expected during the Saturday-Sunday overnight because of foul weather, Surgent said.
Otherwise, the rest of the Sunoco APlus convenience store and its gasoline pumps were to remain open around the clock, Surgent said.
At Lowe's, on Hooper Avenue in Dover Township, the expected storm necessities like shovels, bags of rock salt and windshield washer fluid flew out of the store Saturday.
Laura Hartnett, of Stafford, the store's sales manager, said the store had also sold out of its complement of 500 snow throwers -- most in the last week.
The store also sold a lot of the unexpected.
"Paint and firewood are really selling," Hartnett said. "We are all surprised at the number of people buying paint. I guess people figure they are going to be cooped up in the house for a couple of days, so they might as well get something productive done."
The same was true at the Home Depot in the Route 36 Consumer Centre, West Long Branch, said Assistant Store Manager John Yostpille.
"What is noteworthy is that we also sold many interior home improvement items like floor and wall tiles Saturday," he said. "So I guess some people figure they'll get to that project they may have been putting off as long as they're going to be indoors for a while."