A powerful early season winter storm dropped heavy, wet snow on the area Saturday, making roads impassible, downing tree limbs and leaving thousands without power in Teaneck.

The storm, called a “historic early season snowstorm” by the National Weather Service, hit town Saturday afternoon and continued dumping snow on Teaneck through early Sunday.

Township emergency services were flooded with calls, but no serious incidents or injuries were reported from the storm, Sgt. John Garland said.  Most calls were for downed wires, trees and limbs. 

Police headquarters had to use generator power after electricity was knocked out Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

Trees were down around town, including on Garrison Avenue and Tryon Avenue, near Rensselaer Road. Many side streets were also impassable from downed wires and tree limbs. Several large trees were down along Sagamore Avenue, off Garrison. 

Some of Teaneck’s main business districts, including Cedar Lane, became ghost towns as stores lost power Saturday.

The Teaneck Public Library closed early because of power and heat problems, said Library Director Mike McCue. The building was expected to reopen on a normal schedule Sunday.

PSE&G could not provide specific local outage information, but its outage map showed at least 10,000 customers without power in Teaneck early Sunday. Thousands of residents were faced with the possibility of being in the dark for at least three days.

“Because of the number of damaged trees and downed power lines, the utility is advising that full restoration may not occur until Wednesday,” PSE&G spokeswoman Karen Johnson said in a statement late Saturday.

Bergen County was one of several areas hardest hit by outages, the statement said.

Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency, but there was no immediate travel ban, state police said. Still, authorities urged motorists to stay off the roads as crews continued to clear the snow. Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan declared a snow emergency and also urged caution.

“Residents should stay indoors and stay away from downed power lines,” Donovan said in a statement. “Don’t assume that your power company knows you are without power, or that your neighbor has called.”

Outages can be reported to PSE&G at 1-800-436-PSEG (7734).  

PSE&G was expected to provide another update early Sunday morning. 

According to the National Weather Service, Sunday was expected to be snow-free and become sunny. 

For ongoing storm-related updates, click here.

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