By The Staff
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TRENTON, N.J. – As a second March nor’easter inches closer to New Jersey, and the lights are still off for thousands of residents in Hunterdon, Warren and Somerset counties, legislators are beginning to demand action from the Murphy Administration.
Assemblyman Erik Peterson (R-Hunterdon) declared that Governor Phil Murphy’s initial failure to declare a “state of emergency” was a sign of contempt for Republican counties.
“It’s blatantly obvious residents living in Republican counties are not a high priority for this governor,” said Peterson. “The governor is holding a press conference today about the next nor’easter when he still hasn’t declared a state of emergency to help towns affected from Friday’s storm.”
“The northwest part of the state got hammered. More than 20,000 people are still in the dark and dealing with freezing temperatures at night, debris litters our roads and schools remain closed in my district,” Peterson added.
Murphy finally declared a state of emergency – which aids coordination between officials and eases applications for disaster relief – on Tuesday, effective 8:00 p.m. this evening.
Last Friday’s “bomb cyclone” nor’easter left over 300,000 New Jerseyans without power and, as of this hour, thousands still remain without power and are unlikely to see their lights (and heat) come back on before the second storm hits on Wednesday.
Murphy spent the height of last week’s brutal storm attending a Friday evening comedy show in New Brunswick.
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