Storms Create Dangerous Conditions Around The Tri-State Area
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mother Nature threw the Tri-State Area a beating on Thursday.
Torrential rain, powerful winds, and dangerous lightning left their mark in Bergen County, where thousands of strikes, including at least two on buildings, were reported.
The afternoon and evening storms caused a series of power outages in New York and New Jersey.
As of 11:30 p.m. 28,679 JCP&L customers were without power, along with 5,787 Orange and Rockland customers, 452 LIPA, 2,500 PSE&G, and 4,928 Con Ed customers.
Storms Create Dangerous Conditions Around The Tri-State Area
In Allendale a large tree limb came crashing down onto a Ford in front of Mike's Auto Repair. The branch busted through the rear window of a minivan and lightning is believed to have been the culprit, CBS 2's Vanessa Murdock reported.
Another strike startled residents in Saddle River.
"Suddenly I just heard a really loud pop and I thought I heard sparks, but I think that was just my imagination because it was really loud and scary," Lauren Schachtel said.
Raging water left cars nearly submerged on roads in New Jersey, where motorists speaking with CBS 2's Jessica Schneider described a frantic scene.
"I was like we're getting out of this car and we're getting out now," Allison Katz said.
Katz and her father, Michael, said they were driving on Route 17 in Paramus when they made the decision to get out of their car and head for higher ground.
They waded through 3 feet of water and waited for two hours in wet clothes for AAA to arrive.
Allison and Michael weren't the only ones faced with a difficult decision. Sandy Duda said she left her car in a nearby lot and planned to have a mechanic fix it on Friday. She later had to have it towed after the water rose.
"The borough they charged us $125 to tow our car off the sidewalk. That's really a lot of money for people who are stranded and have no choice," she said.
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