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Community Corner

Snowtober Knocks Out Power and Halloween Celebrations

Summit residents turn to downtown stores for heat and comfort after this weekend's surprising storm.

The Nor’easter that crept up on the Tri-state area Saturday caught everyone by surprise, especially the town of Summit. With thousands without power, trees everywhere, and roads and schools closed, the town is in disarray.

Not only did the storm leave people freezing and without power, it forced the town to cancel their annual Halloween parade on Saturday and postpone trick or treating until Friday, November 4.

This meant that on Halloween night, there were no children dressed up as vampires, witches and princesses. Instead, there were people downtown shopping for food and trying to stay warm inside their favorite local businesses.

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

Glory Hoffman and her daughter Jill have been without power since Saturday afternoon. The two stated that a telephone pole snapped in half near their home. Hoffman said that she feels that the town was unprepared for the magnitude of this storm and that she is very concerned about when the power will come back on.

“We haven’t seen a single power truck on our street,” she said. Hoffman added that Jill has been reading in the dark with earmuffs on because of the cold.

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

Tito’s Burrito’s a local Spanish eatery, was one of the few places that thrived in this mess. In anticipation of the storm, they closed a few hours early Saturday, but never lost power. Manager Chris Conklin said their credit card machine was down Sunday, but besides that, they were one of the few places that was open and packed with customers.  

“We somehow never lose power,” Conklin said.

Not everyone was upset about the storm and its damage. Sophie, a 13-year-old, who was shopping for ski apparel with her mom and sister, said a huge tree fell across their driveway barricading her family inside her house. Sophie said it was a little scary, but there is an upside; no school.

Laura Bauhs, who was eating ice cream at Mango with her four children, said she expected to lose power, because it happens often in Summit storms.

“It’s a disaster. We were surprised by the damage to the trees, but not the loss of electricity,” Bauhs said.

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