Heavy Rain, High Winds Cause Road Closures, Power Outages Across Tri-State Area
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A powerful storm passed through the Tri-State Area on Friday, bringing heavy rain and high winds.
It caused road closures, power outages, travel delays and the Yankees-Royals game to be postponed.
In New Jersey, slow plows were used to push water of the NJ Turnpike between exits 11 and 12. Flooding caused multiple lane closures on the roadway near Carteret.
A house on Rose Street in East Rutherford was struck by lightning around 3 p.m. No one was injured, but the 94-year-old homeowner was inside when he said the floors and walls suddenly felt like they were shaking.
"I'm happy everyone's safe, no one's injured. The house can be fixed, i's just the chimney, no big deal," said his son.
Newark Liberty International Airport temporarily lost power, causing delays for United Airlines passengers.
New Jersey TRANSIT was cross-honoring bus tickets and passes.
In New York City, Staten Island bore the brunt of the storm.
As CBS2's Ali Bauman reported, a city bus splashed through floodwaters while driving along Hylan Boulevard. At other parts of the road, the surface was barely visible.
A tree uprooted in Midland Beach and fell onto the front of a house.
Downed power lines caught fire on a residential block of Forest Hill Road, creating a mix of smoke and mist.
"I see huge fire, huge fire, smoke everywhere," a man said. "It was just raging. All the residents were coming out of their apartments, coming out their house."
Dozens of homes on the block lost power.
"We're going around for a walk to see who actually has light, but it looks like all the power's out," said a woman. "We're living by candlelight."
Around the corner, a tree took a web of power lines down with it on top of a car that was stopped at a red light on Manor Road around 6 p.m. The driver told Bauman she felt something fall on the hood of the car and then bolted from the front seat to safety.
"Once I saw the bent telephone pole over there, I didn't want to go outside for chance of electricity, getting a shock," Emerson Hill resident Ed Perpetun said.
He said the storm was quick but strong, and the thunder was so loud he didn't even hear the tree fall across the street.
"It was a short burst. It poured, the flooding was going down the street," he said.
Con Edison said of the 11,000 customers who lost power in the city and Westchester County, 10,000 of them were on Staten Island.
At 8 p.m., JCP&L reported more than 3,1000 customers were in the dark, PSE&G had more than 1,200 customers out and Orange and Rockland had more than 2,000 out.
Public Service Electric and Gas Company issued a warning to its customers with tips on dangers to be on the lookout for:
- Downed wires should always be considered "live." Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything it might be in contact with. If a wire falls on or near your car, stay inside the car, call 911.
- To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, do not run any gasoline-powered generators in a garage or any other enclosed space.
Suffering a power outage or have an issue to report to your local utility company? Here's a list of the usual suspects from around our area to reach for help.
- ConEdison: 1-800-752-6633
- Central Hudson: 845-452-2700
- NYSEG: 1-800-572-1111
- National Grid: 1-800-930-5003 (Long Island & the Rockaways) or 1-800-642-4272 (Upstate New York)
- PSE&G New Jersey: 1-800-436-7734
- PSEG Long Island: 1-800-490-0025 or 631-755-6000
- Rochester Gas & Electric: 1-800-743-2110
- National Fuel: 1-800-365-3234
For more about dealing with the summer heat, check out our Guide to Summer Safety.
