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Freeholder Board Keeps Cooling Centers Open To The Public

 

While the cleanup continues in Camden County the Office of Emergency Management and the Health Department still have cooling centers open for residents in need today and over the weekend. In addition, all county library locations are being utilized for individuals still waiting for their power to come back online. Power outages have been ongoing for the last 72 hours leaving residents to struggle with a number of variables from charging cell phones to assessing food in powerless refrigerators. Cooling centers and the library system can provide water, air conditioning and a place to charge cell phones and medical devices.

“Our OEM and Health Department are continuing to execute a long term plan to assist residents in the worst hit areas of the county. It is imperative to keep offering and expanding services while we wait for utility companies to restore power,” Freeholder Carmen Rodriguez said. “These centers are going to provide the opportunity to cool off, get water and most importantly charge cell phones and necessary medical devices.”

In today’s age, many households and individuals depend on their cell phones as their primary means of communications. Not having a charging source can create a permanent break in communication with first responders, family and friends. Furthermore, the Office of Emergency Management will be delivering bottled water to all municipalities with opened cooling centers.

In addition, residents will have to make pertinent decisions on food in their fridge and assess water safety for long term outages. The Camden County Health Department has provided tips and best practices from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be safe when assessing food and water for consumption.

Keep Food Fresh:

  • If your power is out, keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to keep in the cool air.
  • Put a block of ice in your refrigerator. It will keep food cool longer. Wear heavy gloves when handling the ice.
  • Even if it's partially thawed, you can still cook or refreeze frozen food as long as you can see ice crystals or if it's still 40°F (degrees Fahrenheit) or lower.

Throw Out Spoiled Food:

  • Is in a can that’s open, damaged, or bulging.
  • Has a strange smell, color, or texture.
  • Needs to be refrigerated but has been warmer than 40°F (degrees Fahrenheit) for 2 hours or longer. Foods that need to be kept cold include meat, eggs, fish, poultry, and leftovers.

Water Safety

Ask local officials or listen to the news to find out whether you can drink tap water or use it for washing. If it’s not safe, use bottled water if you can. If you don’t have bottled water, there are some things you can do to kill germs in dirty water and make it safe to drink. For example:

  • Bring water to a rolling boil for 1 minute.
  • Use household bleach. Add 1/8 teaspoon of new, unscented liquid bleach to one gallon of water. Stir well. Let the water sit for 30 minutes before you drink it.
  • Use water-purifying tablets. Adding these to water make it safe to drink. Follow the product’s directions.

Feeding Your Baby

If you have a baby, protect her from germs in unsafe water. You can:

  • Keep breastfeeding if that’s what you normally do.
  • Use canned or premixed liquid formula.
  • Use bottled water to make formula from a powder or concentrate.

If you don’t have bottled water, use boiled water to make formula. Make sure the water has cooled before mixing it with formula and giving it to your baby.

Only use treated (disinfected or purified) water to make formula if you don’t have access to bottled or boiled water.

“To ensure the public’s health, please assess the food you still have in your house if it is contained in the freezer or refrigerator,” Rodriguez said. “If the temperature of either appliance has dropped below 40 degrees food must be discarded. If there is a question about how long the food was exposed to above 40 degree temperatures discard the perishable.”

In the aftermath of this super storm, power continues to be an issue and both utility providers are working to restore electricity for thousands of Camden County customers. The most recent update from Atlantic City Electric was that all eight substations have been reenergized and most residents will be back online by tonight with a small percentage being restored by Sunday. PSE&G continues to work towards to total restoration by the weekend and has less than a 1,000 customers still without power. Both utilities continue to keep our Office of Emergency Management apprised of their progress to ensure the Freeholder Board they are working as quickly as possible to remedy the situation.

Camden County is still feeling the effects of the storm damage with the continued closing of the Office of Veteran Affairs building due to an ongoing power outage. The office is operating out of the Lakeland complex and can be reached at (856) 374-6145. Also, Berlin Park remains closed and should be reopening in the next week.

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Freeholder Board Keeps Cooling Centers Open To The Public | Pennsauken Township, New Jersey

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