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At Least 1 Dead After Powerful Storms Take Down Trees, Flood Streets Across Tri-State Area

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Powerful storms took down trees, flooded streets and claimed at least one life overnight.

Last night was an example of how conditions can change in a minute. Even more downpours are expected later today.

Commuters on a W train watched as water poured in from the open car doors.

Others captured flooding inside the Court Square station.

The roads in College Point, Queens looked more like a river.

In Jersey City, cars were left stranded in several inches of water after rain pummeled the area.

"I was just driving and I then thought I could make it, and I actually wasn't able to. My car's too short," driver Manuel Izurieta said.

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It was a similar situation on the Garden State Parkway. Traffic came to a standstill as rain flooded the roadway.

The dangerous situation turned deadly in Connecticut. Police said 21-year-old Jarrod Marotto was driving in Fairfield when a tree was struck by lightning and fell onto the roof of his car, crushing the vehicle and killing him.

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Firefighters rushed to Jackson Heights, where a tree and utility pole toppled onto 93rd Street, and to East Elmhurst for a transformer fire, where flames were shooting from a manhole in the middle of an intersection.

In Kearny, smoke filled the air when a landfill caught fire along the turnpike. The cause was believed to be weather-related after lightning flashed across the area.

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