One fatality reported during severe storms in North Plainfield, New Jersey, mayor says
PLAINFIELD, New Jersey -- A line of severe weather carved a path of destruction through Central Jersey, killing one woman and hitting Plainfield so hard that the city declared a state of emergency.
Mayor Adrian O. Mapp declared a state of emergency after trees were down, power lines were down, and power outages were reported throughout the city.
North Plainfield Mayor Lawrence La Ronde confirmed one fatality during the severe storms.
A woman from Middlesex County was driving along Greenbrook Road when she pulled over due to the storm. A large tree reportedly came down with the electrical wires and fell on top of her car, according to La Ronde.
"I saw the tree on the car and I realized, the whole sidewalk had come up. It was very chaotic a lot of people were trying to look inside the car, the car lights were still on and after some time we realized with the conditions of the storm and the size of that tree that most likely the person had been deceased," Michelle Smith said
Massive trees that stood at an intersection of Hillside Avenue in Plainfield for generations were uprooted in the storm.
A car was tossed into the air in the chaos.
Donna Lynn returned to her home of two decades to find her front yard tree sliced through her roof.
"I would've been up there. Would have been up there so I'm grateful for that," Lynn said.
She said the tree ended up in the home office where she would have been working, had she not taken the day off.
Work is already underway to clean up the mess, but it won't be quick.
"We always had a fear that it would someday do what it did right now I am glad I wasn't in there that my husband wasn't in there and that we're safe so that's the most important thing. We can get another house new furniture, stuff can be replaced but I'm just glad we're safe," Lynn said.
In South Plainfield, over 1,000 customers were without power at 7 p.m., with the estimated restoration time by 6:30 a.m. on Friday.
Governor Phil Murphy released a statement about the storm damage, saying if you are in the area to please stay inside and avoid any downed trees, power lines or burning transformers.
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