Community Corner

West Caldwell Chief: Most Damage I Have Seen

About half of township still without power Monday morning. Trick-or-treating should be done with parents during daylight hours.

Trick-or-treating will be tricky this Halloween with power still out around the Caldwells and properties littered with snow and branches, trees and wires downed by Saturday’s historic October snowstorm.

West Caldwell Police Chief Michael Bramhall said Monday morning he had never seen anything quite like the damage experienced from this unseasonable nor’easter that dumped up to a foot of snow in the Caldwell area.

“This is the most amount of damage I have seen from any storm in my 23 years here,” Bramhall said.

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He said although he does not have the authority to cancel Halloween, that if children were to go trick-or-treating they should do it during daylight hours with parental supervision and using extreme caution.

“Always assume that downed wires are live wires,” Bramhall said.

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The chief said half the homes in West Caldwell were still without power Monday two days after the storm.

He said trees, branches and wires were down throughout the township. Drivers were manuevering around a tree down on Laurel Place near Washington Avenue, while Westover Avenue near Ravine Avenue was impassable.

Power remained out at and the West Caldwell Plaza Monday morning. The Broadway Square Plaza, where Dunkin’ Donuts and Harmon are located, had power restored at 4 a.m.

A major portion of the upper end of town was still without power with power restored in some spots in the Presidential section of town.

Bramhall reported only minor car accidents as a result of the storm. Street lights were still out off of Passaic Avenue, at Westville Avenue, Terrace Place, Pine Tree Place and Harrison Avenue. The chief said stop signs were placed on the streets off of Passaic Avenue and that a lack of manpower made it impossible to have officers stationed at the intersections without power.

Bramhall estimates as much as 75% of the township was without power Sunday, with as much as 50% still in the dark. The Crane’s Mill complex, which includes assisted living housing, was fully functional due to backup generators, according to Bramhall.

This article will be updated as more information becomes available.


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