Ida Initially Leaves Almost 3,000 Without Power In Sparta

SPARTA, NJ — Sussex County was leading JCP&L outages throughout New Jersey as of noon on Thursday, in Ida’s aftermath, with nearly 7,700 without power.

The only counties even close to Sussex County’s outage tally at that point were Hunterdon with slightly over 7,200 and Morris, with just more than 7,000 outages.

At about 6 p.m., Hunterdon and Sussex Counties swapped spots, Hunterdon remaining with about 5,000 outages, Sussex County at 4,400 and Morris County at 4,300.

Close to 2,800 customers at first were without power and no estimated restoration time given in Sparta at noon on Thursday, according to JCP&L data, with then close to 32 percent experiencing outages there.

That number dropped to about 1,800 by 5 p.m., then 1,200 closer to 6 p.m., with restoration times still not fully determined for those remaining.

Late Thursday afternoon, Sparta Police announced that JCP&L customers in Sussex County could receive water and ice from particular locations throughout the county, including the ShopRite stores in Sparta, Newton, Franklin and Byram.

Other JCP&L towns that had a high number of outages in the county on Thursday at noon, were Byram and Stillwater, with about 1,500 out in Byram or about 42 percent of JCP&L customers; and 1,444 in Stillwater or about 68 percent of JCP&L’s customer base there. By 6 p.m., that dropped significantly in Byram to around 400 and Stillwater with a slight drop to about 1,300.

After raining all day, on Wednesday night as Ida moved more intensely through the county, there was simultaneously a Flood Warning - meaning flooding was imminent - through midnight, along with a Flood Watch through Thursday morning. A Tornado Watch was additionally in effect through 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

A power outage on Wednesday night in Hopatcong temporarily delayed the start of the Hopatcong Borough Council meeting, which was virtual, the Borough sending out a Nixle alert to subscribers.

The Sparta Police Department first provided updates of road closures in town and outages countywide on its Facebook Page at about 9 a.m. on Thursday, where the department also clarified the restoration process.

“Damage assessment occurs in the first 24 hours to ensure safe restoration, and priority restoration begins with emergencies and critical facilities,” Sparta Police Department wrote. “JCP&L then restores the largest number of customers affected on an outage order.”

Sparta Police reminded residents to stay away from downed trees and wires, then call 911 right away if they see either.

Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative’s outage map showed minor outage activity early in the day on Thursday, with fewer than 30 outages, the majority near Wawayanda and a scattered handful by the Sussex and High Point areas.

Staying within the expectations of the initial rainfall predictions, the remnants of Ida left her wrath on Sparta and Hopatcong, with close to four inches of rain and flooding in her aftermath.

As skies started to clear on Thursday morning, the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection's Water Monitoring and Standards measured 3.68 inches of rain over 48 hours at 8 a.m., at the Wallkill River monitoring station in Sparta, 3.35 inches there within 24 hours. The Musconetcong River location near Byram registered slightly more at 4.36 inches, 4.01 of those within a 24-hour period. The Pequest River by Great Meadows registered 3.91 inches of rainfall in 48 hours, 3.61 within 24 hours.

In Lake Hopatcong by Landing where the U.S. Geological Survey measured the lake’s levels, the gage height of the lake was 9.79 feet as of 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, exceeding the crest of nine feet. That height automatically exceeded New Jersey State Police’s highest water-level threshold of 9.5 feet, which restricts boat speeds for a “no wake” zone.

Hopatcong State Park updated on its social media about the no wake restrictions on Thursday.

Lake Mohawk Marine Patrol additionally announced a lakeside no wake zone until further notice, because of the lake levels.

The Marine Patrol reported that three boats in Lake Mohawk had sunk as a result of the storm.

To follow social media updates for the Sparta Police Department or to dial them directly visit Sparta Police here on Facebook or call 973-729-6121.

For social media updates for Lake Mohawk’s Marine Patrol, click here.

For Hopatcong State Park's social media updates, click here.

Editor's Note: This story was updated with current information at 6 p.m. on Sept. 2.

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