Utility crews in New Jersey are making progress restoring electricity lost during Monday's severe storms.

By Thursday afternoon several thousand homes and businesses remained without power. Most are in Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington counties.

Monday’s storms packed strong winds and heavy rain. The winds downed trees and power lines. Flooding was also an issue.

Utility companies brought in additional crews from out of state to assist in the restoration process.

“We had roughly 3,000 extra personnel out as of yesterday assisting in the process,” says JCP&L spokesman Cliff Cole. “It helped bring the numbers down as quickly as they did.”

Cole says that the utility company is hoping to have full service restored by Friday.

“We appreciate their patience and hopefully we are right at the finish line here,” Cole says.

More than 360,000 were without service during the height of the storms.