Mike Mikos' up close and personal encounter with Tropical Storm Isaias was a little too close for comfort.

Mikos, who lives on Selma Boulevard in Chester Township and works as a controller in Bridgewater, left work late Tuesday morning when it appeared the storm was moving faster than initially reported.

As he recounted, he was almost safety home when, near the Black River Wildlife Management Area on Ironia Road, the tip of a tree limb pierced the passenger side of his 2010 Jeep Liberty's windshield before being sucked back out into the storm.

"I first heard a bump on my roof, and then 'bam!'" he said. "I was literally 30 seconds from my driveway."

Luckily, Mikos wasn't injured in the encounter. He also had the good fortune that his insurance company quickly responded, and the windshield was replaced Friday.

Meanwhile, towns in Morris County reported slowly getting back to normal after the storm, which produced drenching rains and wind gusts of up to 75 mph on Tuesday afternoon.

But not soon enough for Morris County Freeholder Tayfun Selen of Chatham Township, who on Saturday issued a statement airing his frustrations with the time it was taking Jersey Central Power & Light to restore power.

"Im as fed up with JCP&L as you are," he said. "On Tuesday, a tropical storm impacted 150,000 Morris County customers. Five days later, there are still 31,000 customers in Morris County without power.

"Yes, it was a bad storm. But this is unacceptable and people must be held accountable."

JCP&L reported that there was great damage to the transmission lines, the lines moving power to the substations, due to falling trees during the storm. Fixing those lines was the focus during the first 24 hours of recovery, with much of the work being done by helicopter.

The utility then focused on attending to the substations that feed several towns. While that was happening, JCP&L had been summoning power restoration crews from other parts of the country to help with the outage. On Saturday, crews from as far away as West Virginia and southern Georgia were at work throughout the area.

However, JCP&L also reported that COVID-19 has also slowed repairs down. It limits the number of people in trucks and large groups working together.

Those still suffering outages or see lines down are asked to call 1-888-544-4877 (1-888-LIGHTSS) to report it.

JCP&L repaired another 1,987 homes in Washington Township on Friday, leaving 2,156 homes remaining or 30 percent of the homes as of 7 p.m. Friday night. The utilitys goal is to restore 90 percent of homes in the Township by Sunday.

The Township has at least 10 roads closed including the length of Wehrli Drive. However, major roads Schooleys Mountain Road, East and West Springtown, East and West Mill Road, Middle Valley Road, Naughright Road, Flocktown and Green Hill Roads are either open or passable through detours.

As of 6:30 p.m., Chester police reported that most major roads and several minor ones have been opened. Cora Lane remained closed at Dogwood, Linabury Lane was closed at 6 Linabury Lane, Old Mill Road was closed between Forest View Drive and Bridge. Pleasant Hill Road is closed between Hillside Road & Valley View.

Mayor Marcia Asdal said there were about 1,000 Township customers out of power as of Friday night.

JCP&L is estimating that 275 will be restored overnight with another 224 coming back on Saturday, 100 on Sunday and 62 on Monday.

Potable water and charging stations are being provided at the Highlands Ridge Barn. However, due to COVID requirements the barn itself is not open.

The Borough still has just over 400 homes or businesses without power, but nearly all streets are open. Pleasant Hill between Hillside and Valley View was the only closure as of Saturday morning. More restaurants and stores along Main Street have had power restored as well.

As of 4 p.m., Friday, JCP&L reported there were still 1,217 customers without power. That represents 63 new buildings that have recovered since Thursday night and an improvement of 900 from Wednesday.

On Friday night, Mayor Christine Glassner implored residents to report their outages to JCP&L.

We are aware that there has been more outages and we have reached out to our JCP&L officials that are saying that they are having difficulties with the substation, Glassner stated. We are continuing to monitor the situation but you need to report your outages immediately to JCP&L.

The OEM Team and Fire Department are also asking residents to call 911 if an alarm of any type goes off in your home when power returns. The re-powering of buildings has been triggering alarms.

The Mendham Borough Fire Department is prepared to handle these calls and will be fully staffed on Friday night. The Garabrant Charging Center is operating and will stay open.

Tempe Wicke Road is still fully closed East of Corey Lane. Other roads are partially closed however local traffic to residences can get in and out. Township police warn motorists not to drive around barricades, wires or cones. JCP&L has been able to restore some power and put a dent in the 1,575 customers that were noted to be without power as of 10 a.m. on Friday.

Charging stations have been set up at the Brookside & Ralston Firehouses where residents can come charge their electronic devices from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. If access to non-potable water is necessary, there is a hose available for public-use at both firehouses 24 hours a day.

JCP&L is providing free ice and water at the Kings in Mendham and the Shop Rite in Chester as well as other grocery stores in the area.

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ISAIAS UPDATE: Progress is made but many local homes and businesses still without power - New Jersey Hills