Sandy OEM Response Closed in Warren

Warren Township has ended its Hurricane Sandy emergency response, following the complete restoration of power to township residents.

In a final message from the twonship's Office of Emergency Management, OEM Director Jane Asch said any lingering outages are likely to be individual connection issues and not from downed lines.

"The Office of Emergency Management crisis center will be closed today and this is the final OEM update," Asch said in a reverse 9-1-1 message.

Many residents found the daily updates from Asch and Mayor Carolann Garafola very helpful in keeping up with the ongoing issues with power outages, warming shelters and gas supplies.

The days before the storm arrived, to begin planning how the township would provide for the predicted long-term power outages and problems that would cause residents. The center was staffed 24 hours each day for the last two weeks.

While the township's response is over, cleaning the damage from the storm will be lingering. FEMA will continue to accept applications for disaster relief through Nov. 29, and the township began picking up debris from the storm today.