Life Without Power in South Brunswick

As life slowly begins to return to normal in South Brunswick following Hurricane Irene, many residents are still living in the dark with no firm idea of when their power will be restored. In one of the areas hardest hit by the storm, Fresh Ponds Road, residents are adjusting and adapting to the loss of many things often taken for granted.

"The problem for us is that we're out in the middle of nowhere where nobody really pays attention to us," said Fresh Ponds Road resident Alison Lesko. "We don't have a sewer connection so we can't flush the toilets, we have no electric, no hot water. We had a little generator that we used to turn on the fridge for two hours a day, but that fried two days ago. I'm just thankful we didn't lose anything, this is just more of an inconvenience."

Lesko and her neighbors have been without power since 10 p.m. Saturday evening when a massive electrical fire began at the intersection of Fresh Ponds Road and Davidson Mill Road.

"I was heading to a friend's house, because my husband is a township employee and was out working all night, so I figured it was better to be with someone than all alone in the woods when the chaos began," she said. "It was scary, we had tornado warnings, the trees were swaying like you wouldn't believe. As I was heading towards Davidson Mill Road, the entire skyline was completely white. Some residents were out with flashlights signaling people not to go that way.

"It was the craziest thing I've ever seen, there were red flames shooting up, but the majority of it was a big white light, like a bunch of football stadium lights shining this crazy bright light, but there were no sounds. So I got out of there. I tried to head back home on Sunday, but all the roads were closed."

As Lesko finally returned home, she was shocked at the damage left in the wake of Irene to Fresh Ponds Road.

"When I got to Route 130 it's like nothing ever happened, but when I got back to my house it was like a war zone," she said. "There were downed trees everywhere, a 40-foot tree in my backyard was down. There were downed wires and flooding. They call our area Pigeon Swamp, and we're ground level for flooding so we get a lot of water. My neighbor can't park in their driveway because it's completely flooded. Around the corner from us you used to see little swamps, but now it's like a lake."

Without water and electricity, Lesko said she's gotten by on the kindness of friends and family for basic comforts, like showers and hot coffee.

"Luckily we have stores that are open by us for food, so I'm eating a lot of takeout, which isn't so kind to my budget," she said. "I was actually looking forward to returning to work, because without TV and Internet, I had no idea what was going on. I had to drive to my daughter's place on the Rutgers campus to use her shower. I saw the . I'm lucky to have family nearby."

Lesko said she had candles lit throughout every room at night when she returns home from work to darkness, so she has spent most of her time reading on her Nook.

"At night, all you hear is the humming of generators," she said. "Usually it's so quiet out by us, where all you can hear is your own ceiling fan. But now it's just so incredibly black, pitch black."

For the special needs community at the CIL Woods complex, power was finally restored Wednesday morning.

"We actually evacuated the residents on Sunday, all the parents came and got them," said CIL President Jessie Parker. "I got my son and took his food with us, but we came back a few days later and have begun the process of cleaning out the refrigerators and freezers."

Parker said the excitement is palpable as the residents of CIL Woods are eager to get back to their homes.

"It's kind of like college when you have move-in day," she said. "My son is getting all his stuff ready to move back in. So we fared very well in comparison to some other areas, like "

Lesko, who moved to South Brunswick in 1979, said this was easily the worst storm she's ever seen. 

"This is the longest I've ever gone without power and the most devastation I've ever seen," she said. "You ride through Dayton and it's like traveling to Oz, it's all good there. I give my husband and the township employees a lot of credit, they're out there working like crazy trying to get things passable for us in town."

Given the numerous warnings the township Office of Emergency Management put out, Lesko said she will be more prepared in the future so as not be sent back hundreds of years to the days before electricity. 

"I certainly think about how people lived back then, but I know I need to be more prepared if I hear something bad is coming again, even if it's just a bad wind storm," she said. "If we lose power we need to be more prepared and get a good generator to keep our fridge running. There's so much you take for granted that you realize when you lose power, like just knowing what's going on."

Lesko said she's lucky to have family around her to provide showers, but she worries about some elderly residents of the area who don't have a support system. The latest estimate she heard from PSE&G was for power to be restored by 8 p.m. on Sept. 4.

Township officials are hopeful power will be restored earlier than that. Police spokesman Sgt. Jim Ryan said Mayor Frank Gambatese and other township officials were on the phone constantly with PSE&G trying to get South Brunswick's power fully restored. 

"Eventually we'll get our roads cleared, be able to get around safely and have power again," Lesko said. "People just need to reach out to their neighbors and make sure they're okay, and hopefully we'll have power again soon."