Philadelphia region cleans up after storms knock down trees, power lines Monday night

Thousands of people spent the night without electricity around the Philadelphia area after Monday's storms.

The storms left widespread damage across the region from the Lehigh Valley to South Jersey and knocked out power for over 40,000 people at one point — though electricity was being restored for many Tuesday.

No further severe weather is expected Tuesday. The NEXT Weather team says the day will be blustery and cold with a drastic drop in temperatures following the storms.

Tornado confirmed in Kent County, Delaware, 

The National Weather Service said an EF-1 tornado touched down near Frederica, Kent County, Monday and had an estimated wind speed of 100 mph. Frederica is roughly 15 mins south of Dover. On Monday night, Dover Air Force Base ordered all personnel to take shelter and remain under cover for about 15 minutes after a tornado warning was issued for the area.

On Tuesday afternoon, the NWS confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in Ridgely, Maryland. 

The local NWS office in Mount Holly, New Jersey, shared this map of the areas that were surveyed.  

Wind gusts reached up to 74 mph in Avalon, New Jersey, on Monday. 

Power outage reports in the Philadelphia area

Here is a look at power outages around Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, as of about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday:

• PECO was reporting outages affecting over 5,300 customers, with over 3,200 in Chester County and 1,400 in Montgomery County.
• PPL was reporting outages affecting over 13,000 customers, including over 2,500 in Lehigh County and over 2,400 in Northampton County.
• Atlantic City Electric reported outages affecting over 1,300 customers.
• PSE&G reported outages affecting over 900 people in Burlington County, and a few hundred people across Camden, Gloucester and Mercer counties.
• Delmarva reported outages affecting over 200 customers in Delaware, almost entirely in New Castle County.

Roof torn off Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, restaurant

Storms damaged the roof of The New Santiago's Restaurant in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, overnight.

We flew a drone over the restaurant and saw a large portion of the roof dangling off the side of the building on Route 309 near Station Avenue.

Tree falls onto home in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey

A large tree fell onto several homes in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, on Monday night.

"It sounded like there was a freight train coming, and all of a sudden the wind started hitting the house," Ryan Keane.

Keane and his wife, Donna, were awake and about to go to bed when a powerful storm blew through their neighborhood and knocked a massive tree onto their home.

"It was the back of the house where my younger son sleeps, so I just ran for the doorway and started screaming for them to get into the hallway so we could be as safe as possible until it was done," Donna Keane said.

Before the storm was over, several trees toppled over in the Woodbury Heights neighborhood. Transformers blew, and the winds also brought down utility poles that stretched across the 300 block of Lincoln Avenue, leaving neighbors without power

"The whole house started shaking, like back and forth and back and forth, and it went on for like 30 seconds, so I just sat in my bed and was like, 'Whoa, what's going on?' And I look out the window and see a tree on my car," Liv Maska said.

Drone Watch 3 was over The Goodwill Store on Route 45, where the strong winds peeled apart some of the roof. 

A tree in Kari Wood's yard was also uprooted, which took out the shed and part of the fence.

"Extremely loud, it was almost so loud you couldn't tell what you were hearing. We don't know if we heard this tree that fell, we don't know if we were hearing the transformers blow, but overall it's indescribable," Wood said.

Crews spent the morning and afternoon lifting trees off of homes and replacing the downed utility poles. As the community slowly returns to normal, everyone here is thankful that nobody was hurt.

"The more that I think about it and look around, the more I realize how lucky we really got, so it really could have been a lot worse," Donna Keane said.

Allentown, Pennsylvania, hit hard by storms

Several trees and power lines came down in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as the Lehigh Valley was one of the hardest-hit places Monday night.

Kristi Zoccoli said she and her husband were inside their home on Devonshire Road in Allentown shortly before 11 p.m. when the winds quickly intensified.

"It sounded like a train coming through. Lasted about two minutes. We heard a bunch of banging," Zoccoli said.

When the storm passed, the couple discovered their carport had collapsed, crushing one vehicle and damaging another.

"As bad as it is, I'm just glad there wasn't more damage and we were both OK," Zoccoli said. "That's all we can be thankful for."

About a block away, caretaker Grace Leonardo said conditions changed rapidly while she was working inside a client's home.

"It was really calm out and then all of a sudden, it hit," Leonardo said. "I heard the whirling. It was so scary."

Leonardo said the wind snapped tree branches and brought down power lines.

"When the power lines fell, the transformers blew, and it lit up the whole house," she said.

NJ Transit train damaged by storms

NJ Transit shared a photo of an Atlantic City Rail Line train that was damaged by a falling tree. The photo shared on social media showed a snapped tree limb and a broken glass window inside the engineer's cab of the train.

"Thankfully, all passengers and the engineer were uninjured. The weather had a significant impact on multiple rail lines overnight, but all resumed service this morning with some residual delays," NJ Transit said.

Downed tree blocking road in Brookhaven, Pennsylvania

A tree was blocking off Coebourn Boulevard in Brookhaven, Delaware County, Tuesday morning. The road is closed between Shepherd Street and Edgemont Avenue.

Lights are on in the area, but crews are asking drivers to stay away as the cleanup continues.

There is also an elementary school, Coebourn Elementary, along this road, outside of the closed section.

Drivers should use Dutton Mill Road, Chandler Drive, Brookhaven Road or Edgemont Avenue as alternate routes.