Community Corner

Update from Mayor Maley: 'We Were the Eye'

The day after Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy hit New Jersey, Collingswood seems to have skated by with less physical damage than neighbors to the north and south.

"One of the firemen said to me last night, 'We're God's little island,'" Collingswood Mayor James Maley told Patch this morning. "I don't know if that's the case, but we're lucky."

A few hours removed from the passing of Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy—remember, the storm was slightly downgraded before making landfall—and Collingswood is waking up to discover itself largely intact.

. Some rather large trees came down in neighborhoods near Newton Lake and Cooper River Parks. And the borough is still dealing with the clean-up of several downed power lines, which today remain the largest latent threat.

Find out what's happening in Collingswoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The big caution is that there's still a lot of downed wires and it's going to take some time before PSE&G can repair them," Maley said. "If you see a wire down, you have to presume it's live, and stay very very far away," he said, encouraging residents to avoid areas that have yellow caution tape and be observant in negotiating the borough streets.

Otherwise, Maley said, "The rest is insurance companies and DPW." Water in the borough is safe to drink, as the treatment facilities never lost power throughout the storm.

Find out what's happening in Collingswoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Plus, there's still the chance for a bit of weather out there today, including gusting winds up to 45 mph and rainfall.

Looking for some more information on life in the brave, new post-storm future?

  • Read about food safety tips in an emergency.
  • What to do if your power's out.
  • How to help with clean-up efforts.
  • Check out photos in our Sandy gallery and add your own.
  • Keep tabs on what's still closed or cancelled as we update our running list.

Get up-to-the-minute storm news from Collingswood Patch: Bookmark our special Sandy topic page, sign up for our breaking news alerts and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.


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