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Neighbors Jordan Charles and her fiancé watched from the patio as the storm rolled through.
"Within minutes the sky went really black and I could barely see my neighbor's house. The windows start whipping," said Charles.
Within seconds they received alerts and grabbed flashlights and went to the basement as quickly as they could.
There were more reports of damage in other parts of Howell Township - the storm pulled trees to the ground, one partially blocking a road.
Meanwhile, in Toms River, a huge storm cloud highlights what be a tornado forming in Ocean County.
Massive storm cloud in Toms River, New Jersey
The heavy winds yanked down power lines - leaving many customers in the dark.
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JCP&L reports nearly 21,000 customers without power -- with 5,940 outages reported in Monmouth County and 14,233 reported in Ocean County.
"I was traumatized, petrified - I didn't know what to expect, especially since what happened in Mississippi," said Charles.
The National Weather Service will be in Howell Township on Sunday to assess the damage and determine if a tornado touched down.
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