The state of emergency Gov. Phil Murphy ordered in New Jersey ahead of a strong nor’easter storm remains in effect Tuesday as rain continues adding to already high totals and increased wind gusts are expected later in the day, which could cause more widespread power outages.
“Given these winds, no one should be surprised if they lose power,” Murphy said during a storm briefing Tuesday morning in Woodbridge.
About 6,000 homes and business are without power as of 10:15 a.m., according to NJ Advance Media’s outage tracker.
“We almost certainly expect that number to go up, perhaps dramatically, with the higher winds that are coming later in the day,” Murphy said.
Winds are expected to pick up this afternoon, which could increase the number of outages — 15 to 25 mph winds could gust as high as 35 mph along the Jersey Shore, the National Weather Service said.
“This system will still be packing some heavy rains and some sustained winds until early tomorrow,” Murphy said.
The governor called for a delayed opening of 11 a.m. for state workers who have resumed working from offices. He also urged caution for all drivers with intermittent road closures from flash flooding.
“Today is definitely a washout,” Murphy said. ”Please everybody be safe and use your common sense.”
Many parts of the state had already reported more than 3 inches of rain early Monday.
“While we prefer everyone to stay in, we recognize that might not be possible,” Murphy said. “If you encounter flood waters, turn around. Don’t move ahead.”
Murphy declared the state of emergency late Monday.
That move came after the Democratic governor — who is up for re-election in exactly one week — faced criticism he waited too long to declare a state of emergency as deadly Tropical Storm Ida swept through the state in early September. The storm killed 30 people in the state.
Critics note Murphy did not announce a state of emergency for Ida until around 10 p.m., after a tornado had already destroyed a suburban neighborhood in Gloucester County and many people in the state were already trapped in their cars or low-lying homes.
“Please remember the tragic lessons of Ida,” Murphy said Tuesday. “Floods just don’t happen in low-lying areas. A creek can become a river.”
State of emergencies do not ban people from roads, but critics argue that they can alert people to the severity of a storm.
This time, Murphy declared an emergency well before the storm arrived.
Murphy is up for re-election next Tuesday, Nov. 2 in a race against Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli that has narrowed in recent week. Back-to-back polls have shown Murphy up only by single digits.
During the first gubernatorial debate last month, former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli said: “If ever we needed a ‘get the hell off the beach’ moment, this was it.” That was a reference to then-Gov. Chris Christie’s famous line to sunbathers as Hurricane Irene approached in 2011.
Murphy deflected questions Tuesday about whether the Ida criticism caused an earlier state of emergency with this storm.
“Politics is never a factor here,” he said. “Our job is to save as many lives as possible.”
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @johnsb01.
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N.J. state of emergency remains in effect with increasing power outages expected, Murphy says - NJ.com
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