The fierce winds came on the heels of heavy rain that left parts of our area under water.
Eyewitness News reporter Carolina Leid joins us live this morning from one of the hardest hit areas - Paramus, NJ.
It was a busy night for firefighters, police and power crews. Many of them are said once they finished with one call, they were right on the next.
About 50,000 homes in New Jersey are without power. Power outages in New York City area are scattered and on Long Island, about 1,900 homes are without power in Sunday morning.
"It sounded like a jet going really close," said a resident. "It was very strong."
Residents in Wyckoff and Glen Rock described the strong winds as they ripped trees by the roots and toppled them right on top of the power lines.
"The soaking rains softened the roots and high winds pushed it right over," said a man.
Firefighters responded to one call of a downed power line that caught fire across a stretch of roadway. Crews blocked off the road to traffic.
Fire officials say they had to be extra careful because an underlying gas main.
"Our concern at this point is that fire burning down to the gas line," said Chief Dave Murphy at Wyckoff Fire Department.
If you see branches or trees down use caution -- because they could be touching a live wire.
Fortunately one Wykoff resident took a second look before he took the storm cleanup into his own hands.
"I came out and saw the branch down. I was going to move it so the cars can go by," said a Wykoff resident. "But then I noticed hot wire and said this is not good."
It's not clear when the homes will get the power back on at this moment.
