400,000 still without power in New Jersey

About 400,000 homes in New Jersey are still without electricity following the weekend storm that knocked down trees and power lines.

Gov. Chris Christie said Monday utility companies in New Jersey have deployed 1,200 crews to make repairs.

“They’ve told me by Thursday they’re going to have 95 percent plus done,” Christie said. “I’m going to hold them to it. And if we don’t see them making sufficient progress every day, we’re going to up the pressure on them.”

Christie said it’s a slow process. As the power is turned on to repaired transmission lines, transformers blow where individual lines are down, he said, meaning crews have to make additional repairs.

The governor is personally acquainted with the frustrations of homeowners left in the dark and the cold by the unusually early snowstorm. The Christie family lost power at their home in Mendham Saturday

“We built a fire. There was a lot of reading going on. There was some board game playing that went on. There was some card game playing that went on until everybody finally went to sleep,” he said. “It was real cold on our house Saturday night. When I went to bed it was 47 degrees in the house.”