Weather damage, power outages in New York area as storms topple trees overnight
Tens of thousands of customers lost power across the New York-New Jersey area after severe weather, including heavy rain, damaging winds and a tornado warning, whipped through the region overnight into Tuesday morning.
A lengthy wind advisory expired at 8 a.m. for all of New York City and its surrounding area, including Long Island and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut, but the blustery weather will persist.
Power outages, rail suspensions
Utility companies worked to restore power across the Tri-State Area on Tuesday.
As of noon, an estimated 16,000 customers remained without electricity in New Jersey, nearly 7,000 were still in the dark on Long Island and about 1,300 Con Edison customers in New York were waiting to have their power restored.
At 6 a.m., PSEG Long Island was reporting the most power outages with 14,466 customers in the dark; New Jersey's JCP&L had 12,459 customers without power, followed by PSE&G's reported 11,903; New York's Orange & Rockland utility was reporting 3,644 customers affected and Con Edison said it had 1,297.
NJ Transit confirmed some rail lines were suspended Tuesday morning because of weather-related downed trees on overhead wires. The North Jersey Coast and Morris and Essex Lines were halted early Tuesday morning, but service started resuming shortly before 6:30 a.m., the agency said.
Damaging winds overnight
Peak wind gusts in New York City reached 72 mph at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and 71 mph gusts were recorded in Newark, New Jersey, during the storms that started Monday.
There were reports of damage across the Tri-State Area, including a tree that fell and crushed a car in the Bronx.
Chasity Serrano said she parked her car on Edison Avenue in Pelham Bay on Monday night while visiting her grandmother. Her neighbor alerted her to what had happened on Tuesday morning as crews worked to remove the massive tree and reopen the road.
"I was shaking. I was upset. I was stressed out. I was calling my dad and I was shaking. The neighbor said, 'Calm down. It's OK,'" Serrano said.
At Rye Playland in Westchester County, employees swept up what was left of the stucco and foam façade of the historic music tower after it was torn off before daybreak, leaving the steel bones exposed.
The tower was part of the park's original construction that dates to 1928 and was last renovated about 20 years ago.
"The good thing is it's not structural, which for us is great because it doesn't deter us from opening anything in the park," said Peter Tartaglia, Westchester County Parks first deputy commissioner.
"It was a loud bang"
A tree toppled onto a house in South Plainfield, New Jersey, and another hit a house in Metuchen, slicing through the upstairs bedroom. Neighbors said the tree went right through the room, leaving a gaping hole in the back.
"It was a loud bang. Then, I saw these two trees coming down and then I heard my daughter scream," Ajit Singh said.
Singh's daughter, Eva, was fast asleep in her bedroom at around midnight when strong winds brought the massive tree down on top of the family's rented home. It landed inches away from the 11-year-old's bed.
"It was like really scary. I heard like a really loud noise and I thought it was a dream. So then I started screaming and I was like, 'Mom, where are you?' and then my dad came and found me," Eva Singh said.
There were also downed trees in Rahway, officials said.
Strong gusts were also recorded at 64 mph in Keyport, New Jersey; 62 mph at LaGuardia Airport; and 62 mph in Harvey Cedars, New Jersey.
The National Weather Service issued a late-night tornado warning in New Jersey's Monmouth and Ocean counties, which expired about 15 minutes after midnight.
