Wednesday's nor'easter brought the winter's first snowfall to the same areas affected by Hurricane Sandy knocking out power again for thousands.

Accident on the Garden State Parkway at exit 100
Accident on the Garden State Parkway northbound at exit 100 (Listener photo: Doreen Longo)
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Freehold and Manchester hit the jackpot in terms of snow totals with 13 and 12 inches of heavy wet snow according to National Weather Service observations. Other areas of Monmouth & Ocean counties report up to a foot of snow while other areas have just an inch or two.

 

The Department of Transportation said it deployed  500 of its trucks in addition to hundreds operated by private contractors to keep the roads clear. Some road crews were caught off guard as many roads quickly became snow covered on Wednesday afternoon slowing down the afternoon drive home.

The snow also piled on already weakened tree limbs and branches, plunging more back into the dark after getting their lights back after days without power. The nor'easter cut a feed to a substation briefly Wednesday night, knocking out power to 8,000 customers around East Brunswick. Throughout the area, and utilities in New York and New
Jersey reported that nearly 60,000 customers who lost power because
of Sandy lost it all over again as a result of the nor'easter.

Lakewood transformer fire during snowstorm
Lakewood transformer fire during snowstorm (TheLakewoodScoop.com)
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In some areas including Lakewood  transformers and wires caught fire as they fell to the fround.

Utlities continue to make progress restoring power lost during Sandy although may be slowed until winds get below 40 MPH. Work regulations do not allow work in bucket trucks in wind speeds over 40 MPH.

PSE+G reports 120,000 still are without power while JCP+L reports 236,000 in the dark on its outage map. Orange & Rockland has 8,300 households out while  Atlantic City Electric is reporting nearly 9,000 customers without power.

Restoration maps provided to the Governor’s office by the utilities

Waves crashed onto New Jersey's ravaged beaches but no major flooding was reported. Many towns order mandatory evacuations in low lying areas in anticipation of high winds and coastal flooring.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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