Severe Storms Plow Into Tri-State Area, Rip Down Trees, Cut Power To Thousands
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Severe thunderstorms came plowing into New York City late Monday afternoon -- leaving trees and power lines on the ground, streets flooded, and numerous homes in the dark.
Shortly before 5 p.m., monsoon-like rain came tearing into the city along with lightning and thunder. Some people got caught in the downpour, which appeared to be coming down sideways.
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The fast-moving storm ripped down trees early in the afternoon. A tree was ripped out at the roots and came crashing onto a home on Kingston Avenue in Hawthorne, New Jersey.
A teen who was taking an afternoon nap got a scary wake-up call.
"I was asleep in my room and I heard a loud bang and crash, and my room is actually right next to where the tree fell in – and it impaled into my bedroom, like, I see three branches poking through, said Thomas Bushnauskas.
PHOTOS: Storm Damage -- Monday, June 19, 2017
As CBS2's Jessica Layton reported, a tree also came down on a house and a car in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey.
Resident Kathleen Moran said she had just taken her dog out for a walk when raindrops began to fall and the sky got pitch black. She was back in her house on Lloyd Road with her four children when she heard her oldest daughter screaming that a tree was crashing onto the house.
Justine Moran watched it happen from the front downstairs window, while the tree crashed down onto her bedroom upstairs and cracked the foundation of the home.
"The bottom of the tree actually looks like it was hit by lightning, but it's just the way – it must have twisted the tree and it fell, because it was not lightning. It was the wind was, it turned black, the sky turned black, and the wind kicked up so high, and then it was like a thunder boom," Kathleen Moran said.
"The craziest part is it was only a five-minute storm… and then right after, the sun was out and the rain was gone," said Justine Moran.
The tree had to be lifted off the house, branch by branch, under the deceptively bright sky hours later.
A tree also landed on a car on Sandhill Road near Route 1 in South Brunswick. The father and son inside the car escaped with minor injuries.
In Glen Rock, Drone Force 2 was over the scene of a trailer that caught fire after wires fell and sparked flames.
Back in New York City, a tree also came crashing down at 79th Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side, and in Riverside Park at 99th Street around 6:30 p.m.
The car that was smashed up by the tree in Riverside Park belonged to Robert Toro. He and his passenger were not hurt.
Toro said the tree came down suddenly right across the hood of his car.
"Just shocked the heck out of us," said Toro, of Bergenfield, New Jersey. "We're just lucky to be alive; not hurt, and now I'm just starting to calm down a little bit."
Toro said the Fire Department responded to the scene and quickly chopped up the tree. He had to call for a tow truck to get him home to New Jersey.
A huge section of copper façade also came down at 404 Riverside Dr. at 113th Street.
A witness, Selma Masower, told CBSNewYork.com's Jesse Zanger she witnessed the façade fall from the 14th floor where she lives.
"I thought it was planks of wood, and I saw it was the roof up there," she said. "I was also worried that like, it could have, that it was a bit of the building."
Twitter video also showed clouds rolling rapidly and menacingly over Wappingers Falls in Dutchess County, and dangerous bolts of lightning in Poughkeepsie.
Flooding was seen in the streets in Gowanus and Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
At a rooftop bar in Manhattan, the furniture was nearly blown away because of powerful wind gusts.
And the problems were not just above ground. Twitter user Peter Kayaian shared a tweet showing water flooding into the DeKalb Avenue subway station in downtown Brooklyn.
Flight delays were also seen across the area because of the storms. Arriving flights were delayed an average of 2 hours and 50 minutes at LaGuardia Airport, 3 hours and 56 minutes at Newark Liberty International Airport, and 2 hours and 58 minutes at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Power outages were also seen throughout the area.
As of 7:35 p.m., Con Edison had 1,360 customers without power, PSE&G New Jersey had 3,605, PSEG Long Island 5,650, Orange and Rockland 969, and Jersey Central Power & Light 7,465.
By 10:39 p.m., the numbers had been reduced to 760 customers for Con Ed, 1,600 for PSE&G New Jersey, 100 for PSEG Long Island, 150 for Orange and Rockland, and 2,300 for Jersey Central Power & Light.
CBS2's Lonnie Quinn reported a band of severe storms passed directly over New York City around 5 p.m. and was moving northeast. The storms brought hail, lots of lightning, and some possible rotation to the north.
Severe thunderstorm warnings and flash flood warnings were in effect for much of the area late Monday afternoon. A flash flood warnings remained into effect into the evening for the city, but was canceled around 7:40 p.m.
There were no tornado watches or warnings, but Quinn emphasized that rotation associated with the storm could be ruled out.
As the storms passed, a double rainbow encircled the area.
But the last raindrops were not expected to leave the area altogether until sometime after 10 p.m.
