More Than 300K NJ Residents Lose Power After Storms Hit Tri-State Area
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Intense storms started rumbling through our area Monday evening.
The combination of rain, hail and wind brought down trees and knocked out power across New Jersey, CBS2's Valerie Castro reports.
More than 300,000 people were without electricity as a result.
Gov. Phil Murphy released the following statement:
"Our administration is tracking the outages across New Jersey that have resulted in over 300,000 blackouts caused by this evening's line of powerful storms. The Board of Public Utilities is working closely with utilities and requesting mutual assistance in the assessment and restoration effort, which may take up to several days for some customers. We urge all residents without power to make sure their outage is called in and to keep clear of downed lines. Residents in need of a cooling center or other shelter should call 2-1-1 for the location nearest to them."
Photos and videos posted to social media showed large pieces of hail crashing down in Oakland, New Jersey.
"This is crazy. These hailstones are bigger than a quarter," resident Brendan O'Neill said.
In Woodbridge, cars became stranded in flooded streets.
"I've been here since '96, so we're kind of used to it, but the problem is some of the newer people that have moved in are really having trouble. There's so much pressure. It's pushing back up into the sewers. It's popping the caps up and their basements are flooding," resident George Weber said.
Howell Township suffered structural damage. Cinder blocks in the dugout at Howell High School toppled over in the heavy wind.
Trees were uprooted and torn apart all over the area, and on Locust Avenue, several 70-year-old locust trees had branches and limbs shorn off.
"It was pretty crazy. It was really wild. You can see all these trees are destroyed," Howell resident Steven Donoghue said. "My wife, she checked with the radar, and apparently, it came right through the area. I don't know if it was a twister or microburst or what have you, but it was pretty cool."
A flash flood watch remains in effect in multiple parts of New Jersey through 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Thousands in New York also lost power Monday, adding to the thousands of residents who were still without service from weekend power outages.
PSEG Long Island said more than 27,700 customers lost power at some point during the evening. Service was restored to about 15,300 customers by 10 p.m.
Cars inched along the Van Wyck Expressway, water covering their tires.
The rain made its presence known in the subway, as well. At the Jay Street station in Brooklyn, water came down hard onto the tracks. The scene was much the same at Court Street, where water poured onto an arriving train.
The situation seemed to be worse at Prospect Park, where even the platform was getting flooded out.
A flash flood watch has been issued throughout New York until 8 a.m. Tuesday.
