The Camden County Office of Emergency Management has activated the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in response to Sunday’s severe winter storm.
“The EOC functions as our nerve center throughout the storm, and it will be where we will allocate assets wherever they may be needed across Camden County,” said Commissioner Jonathan Young, liaison to the Camden County Department of Public Safety. “We remain in constant communication with our state and local partners to ensure that our residents are safe throughout the duration of this storm.”
Camden County’s Department of Public Works and Camden County Parks Department will be working throughout the storm to ensure that county roadways are passable and respond to downed trees and debris. At the public works complex in Lindenwold, more than 100 pieces of equipment are available to keep county roadways passable. When the weather becomes treacherous, personnel will be dispatched to 12 winter maintenance districts to salt and plow 1,200 lane miles of roadways across Camden County. The county’s response plan calls for crews to be dispatched only to the zones where they are needed.
Commissioner Young offers residents the following tips to prepare for the storm:
- Keep bottled water, and non-perishable food on hand
- Full charge all electronic devices ahead of the storm
- If you must go outside, dress in layers, and cover any exposed skin
- Assemble an emergency kit with water, non-perishable food, flashlights, battery-powered radio, first-aid supplies, toiletries, medications, and other essentials.
- Avoid frozen pipes by allowing a small trickle of water to run from your faucets throughout the duration of the storm, and consider wrapping insulating exposed pipes.
- Keep your pets indoors as much as possible, and make sure your pet has clean, unfrozen drinking water.
- Ensure that your carbon monoxide detector is in working order, and do not operate any gasoline-powered generators or heating devices indoors.
Heavy ice and snow can damage powerlines and may lead to outages. In the event the weather causes isolated power outages, please immediately call your utility company so they can identify the location and coordinate crews to restore your power. Residents are advised to be cognizant of any power failures. Fallen overhead power lines should never be approached or touched even if the lines do not appear to be live or sparking.
Below are numbers and contact information for the power providers in Camden County:
- PSE&G: You can report a power outage by texting OUT to 4PSEG (47734), report it online at https://nj.pseg.com/outageandgasleaks, or call 1-800-436-PSEG (7734).
- Atlantic City Electric: Text OUT to 20661, report it online at https://secure.atlanticcityelectric.com/powerOutages, or call 1-800-833-7476.
- South Jersey Gas: Call 1-888-766-9900 or visit www.southjerseygas.com.
Please only use 9-1-1 for emergencies. If you see a problem on a county road, please call our 24-hour hotline at (856) 566-2980 to report it to the Camden County Department of Public Works.
Weather and road condition updates will be available at www.camdencounty.com.