More than 240,000 homes and business remained without power in New Jersey after a nasty nor'easter churned out wet, heavy snow and utility companies warned it could take days to get everyone back on line.

JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano said crews were still assessing the damage from the second big storm to pummel the region in less than a week.

"This is a restoration that can take up to several days and we'll know better when we do our assessment," Morena said Thursday morning. "We'll tell people estimated times of restoration as they become available."

At the peak of the storm, more than 320,000 power outages were reported. As of 8 a.m., JCP&L had 133,000 customers in the dark and PSE&G had 85,000 outages.

POWER OUTAGE TRACKER

Keep track of power outages, from the major utility companies as they happen across the state using the N.J. Outage Tracker below.

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PSE&G offered a similar assessment for the length of the recovery.

"We are mobilizing additional employees to help with damage assessment so that we can better determine restoration times," John Latka, senior vice president of electric and gas operations at PSE&G said in a statement Wednesday night. "We ask our customers to be patient as we deal with these difficult conditions and work to safely restore power."

The latest wave of outages hit even as about 25,000 JCP&L customer were already without power from last week's storm. Those customers will be given first priority for power restoration, Morano said.

JCP&L crew members were pulled from treacherous roads on Wednesday as the snow fell due to safety reasons, but were back in action on Thursday, Morano said.

Morano urged customers to avoid downed, dangerous wires and instead alert the power companies.

"Please, stay away," he said.

To report downed wires or power outages:

PSE&G: Call the utility's customer Service line at 1-800-436-PSEG. Click here to view the company's live outage map.

JCP&L: Call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877) or click "Report Outage" link on www.jcp-l.com. In the event of downed wires, customers should immediately contact the utility or their local police or fire department. Click here to view JCP&L's live outage map.

Atlantic City Electric: Customers can report outages by calling 1-800-833-7476, visiting www.atlanticcityelectric.com or through the utility's mobile app, available for download here. Click here to view ACE's live power outage map.

Rockland Electric Co: The utility, which serves customers in northern Passaic and Bergen Counties, can be reached at 1-877-434-4100. To view Rockland Electric's live outage map, click here.

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.

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