Overnight Storms Prolong Outages, Clean-Up Efforts Across Tri-State Area
HOPATCONG, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- As people across the Tri-State Area spent Wednesday cleaning up from Tuesday's storm, more severe weather passed through packing strong winds and heavy rains.
The latest round of rain made for a new set of problems and damage for residents as crews worked through the night to restore power to areas hit hard by the storm, CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis reported.
At the Hopatcong home of Lisa Lisante, half her deck is gone and her shed was catapulted from her backyard to the front lawn.
LINK: Tornado Safety Tips | Check Forecast
When a second storm hit Wednesday night all she could think was "not again."
"When the sky got gray and the thunder was coming, I'm like 'oh God,'" Lisante said.
Amanda Hurewitz's entire front lawn is blocked by trees that came crashing down when an EF-1 tornado came through Tuesday night.
"It has been stressful. There's been a lot of crying," Hurewitz said. "To get this cleaned up, I think our tree guy said he'll be here for 12 hours today, so we're hoping that at least 90 percent of it will get cleared out."
MORE: National Weather Service Confirms EF-1 Tornado Touched Down In Sussex County, N.J.
Hopatcong and Stanhope were both hit by Tuesday's tornado, which packed winds cranking as high as 110 mph.
Drone Force 2's overview of the destruction around Sussex County showed homes ripped apart, utility poles tossed to the ground and cars crushed.
SEE IT: Drone Force 2 Over Storm Damage In Sussex County
Homes were taken captive by downed trees. Homeowners told CBS2's Vanessa Murdock houses shook suddenly, moved by falling trees.
"I didn't know if I should start crying or what, it was just crazy," said Ishmael Ortiz, also of Hopatcong.
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"I hate to put 'war zone' into it, but if you look around and see all the destruction that's exactly what hit here," said Tom Yowe of Stanhope.
Morris County has its own mess to clean up. In Roxbury Township, one tree crushed a garage and went through a woman's ceiling into her bedroom and bathroom.
"Just devastated, I'm just devastated," said homeowner Joyce Rauh. "I don't know I guess it could be worse."
REPORTING POWER OUTAGES:
The second storm brought a another set of problems Wednesday night.
In Old Bridge, a big tree took down power lines. And in Edgewater, police officers worked to fix a generator behind their station where power was knocked out along with some nearby traffic lights.
The minute the rain stopped, crews were back at it restoring power in the dark.
Crews were working overtime to get power restored, some logging more than 16 hours on Wednesday.
The concern will continue into Thursday night because more storms are in the forecast, though they're not expected to be as powerful.
