A weekend nor'easter that battered New Jersey with wind gusts above 45 mph and heavy rain toppled large trees in Livingston and knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers statewide. The storm was expected to fully exit the region by late Monday, Sept. 28, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
On Saturday, Sept. 26, large trees fell onto the property of Burnet Hill's Haunted Ridge on Ridge Road in Livingston, damaging the site. Crews worked to clear the debris.
@KyleMazzaWUNF: "Crews work to clear fallen trees from the property of Burnet Hill's Haunted Ridge after a nor'easter storm in Livingston, New Jersey, on Saturday, September 26, 2026."
Statewide power outages peaked at roughly 57,700 on Sunday morning, led by Ocean County with more than 24,000 and Monmouth County with 13,000, Yahoo News reported. By 3:40 p.m. Sunday, outages had fallen to about 19,400.
PSE&G, which serves much of Essex County including parts of Millburn, Short Hills and Livingston, had reported 2,627 customers without power Saturday morning across Burlington, Essex, Gloucester and Somerset counties combined, according to NJ 101.5. No breakdown specific to Millburn or Livingston was available.
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) had reported 21,259 outages statewide as of 10:45 a.m. Saturday, concentrated in Hunterdon, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Sussex and Warren counties. JCP&L spokesman Chris Hoenig said about 72,000 customers lost power overnight Friday into Saturday before crews began restoring service. The utility deployed about 3,200 personnel, including nearly 1,600 line workers.
What Millburn and Livingston did to prepare
The Millburn Office of Emergency Management (OEM) issued an alert at 8 a.m. Saturday warning of a wind advisory for Western Essex County through 6 a.m. Sunday and possible flooding through late Saturday night. The NWS had forecast showers capable of producing up to 2 inches of rain per hour, with most areas seeing 1 to 2 inches total and locally up to 3 inches.
Millburn's Fire Department staffed up, the Department of Public Works conducted pre-storm actions, and the township drained Taylor Park Pond. The emergency management trailer, equipped with standby generators, was readied for deployment.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill declared a State of Emergency on Friday, Sept. 25, under Executive Order No. 25 for eight coastal and southern counties: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem. Essex County was not among them. On Sunday, Sherrill said residents along the shore had been evacuated and dozens were rescued from vehicles over the weekend, according to The New York Times.
"Do not drive through flooded-out roads," Sherrill said Friday. "We've had too many people have to rescue people from these flooded-out roads and damage to the cars."
In Livingston, the township issued storm reminders Saturday directing residents to report downed wires to their utility and to the Livingston Police Department at 973-992-3000. Intersections with inoperable traffic signals should be treated as four-way stops.
How to report outages
- JCP&L: Call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877), visit firstenergycorp.com, or text OUT to 544487
- PSE&G: Call 1-800-436-PSEG (1-800-436-7734) or text OUT to 47734
- Millburn Police (non-emergency): 973-564-7001
- Livingston Police (non-emergency): 973-992-3000
Residents can sign up for Millburn Alert emergency notifications at member.everbridge.net/76864345342188/login.
