Community Corner

As Galloway Recovers, Mayor Says Services Will Be Available for Neighboring Communities

Many township businesses were open on Thursday, and the mayor estimated about 20 percent of the township was remaining without power.

As Galloway Township continues to recover from Tropical Storm Sandy, Mayor Don Purdy said the township’s resources will be available to other municipalities in need early Thursday afternoon, Nov. 1.

“If our roads are clear and there’s anything we can do to help someone else, we’ll be there,” Purdy said. “There’s just a lot for these other municipalities to take care of, and any way we can help, we will.”

Purdy made the offer on Thursday just as Galloway was recovering. Without exact numbers available, he estimated that about 20 percent of Galloway was still without power.

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

“During the storm, we had outages everywhere, from the western end of the township all the way out to Port Republic, Smithville, the Clubs area, the municipal complex,” Purdy said. “At least three-quarters of Galloway Township was out.”

Many businesses were reopening on Thursday.

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

The Galloway Township and Greater Egg Harbor Regional school districts were reopened, as were the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and Atlantic Cape Community College.

Official Halloween hours in Galloway are Monday night, Nov. 5, 6-8 p.m., per executive order from Gov. Chris Christie.

Street lights that were previously not functioning were all restored, flooding issues were at a minimum and Public Works was continuing to work to clear trees that were felled during the storm.

The township was receiving help from Atlantic City Electric workers from other states, as far away as Alabama.

“All the streets are passable and neighbors are helping each other out,” Purdy said. “The township has been really, really good with it, and we’ll be addressing the rest of our power issues.”

Purdy said other municipalities haven’t been as fortunate as Galloway Township, particularly the barrier islands.

While he has visited, he didn’t comment on the status of other municipalities. He did recognize Atlantic City has its share of problems, and that the residents who were displaced will have to be patient as work is done to restore the island.

“It’s really not safe,” Purdy said, alluding to downed power lines and gas leaks. “But they’re definitely making progress.”


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