Nor'Easter comes a-knockin'

SPARTA — On Saturday, Oct. 29, the year-long unpredictable destructive weather patterns continued its buffeting of the East Coast. And once again, Sparta Township did not escape Mother Natures Fury. As many residents continued the costly, time consuming task of repairing flood and wind damaged homes and property from Hurricane Irene and the several storms that followed, an unprecedented late October snow storm dumped 16” of the white stuff on an already storm-weary populace. Starting at noon on Saturday, this latest Nor’easter’s 24-hour period of intense snowfall toppled trees, forcing numerous road closures and leaving some 5,000 local residents in the dark for more than 36 hours. The Sparta Township Police Department reported widespread damage throughout the township, due to trees and limbs damaging structures and parked motor vehicles. There were numerous reports of power lines being ripped from utility poles by falling trees and starting small fires. During this 24-hour period the Sparta Police received a total of 2,645 calls for service. Of these calls 519 were 9-1-1 emergency calls. There were no reported injuries or deaths as a result of the storm. However there were 11 calls for medical assistance including two heart attacks that were not weather related. As of Tuesday afternoon, all the schools and roads within the township had been reopened. But as late as Wednesday morning, 2100 Sparta residents were still without power.