Storm cleanup continues after fallen trees, flash flooding hit Tri-State
PLAINFIELD, New Jersey (WABC) -- Crews are working Saturday morning to remove a massive tree that crashed onto an Amazon delivery truck during Friday night's powerful storms, leaving a little more than a dozen customers on Hillside Avenue without power.
The fallen tree crushed the box truck with enough force that neighbors initially feared a house had been hit.
"It sounded pretty bad. I thought it actually hit the house when I heard it," eyewitness Ramon said. "Yeah, it just sounded like an explosion pretty much."
Witnesses said the driver had been out delivering packages when the tree came down, bringing power lines with it.
Shatia Winston said another neighbor rushed in to help free a second worker trapped inside the truck.
"He ran over, and I said, ' Oh, you can come up here and he's like, ' No, no, no, there's someone still in the car," Winston said. "So the neighbor that lives right next door - he came and was like, ' Oh, you guys have a knife or something so I can cut it? And I was like, oh okay, hold on, and I got one of my kitchen knives, and he cut the seatbelt, and he got him out, and he was walking holding his stomach."
Heavy rain and thunder swept across the region, flooding streets in Paterson and Jersey City and knocking additional trees onto train tracks. NJ Transit reported widespread disruptions. One family traveling to MetLife Stadium for the Usher and Chris Brown concert said the weather even forced their original flight to be canceled.
"We were going to Newark, but because of the storm they wouldn't let us land there; they cancelled the flight last minute," said concertgoer Chandra. Despite the setback, she added, "We're actually early - we made it! Anything for Chris Brown."
Back in Plainfield, residents said they were still waiting for deliveries when they received unexpected updates from Amazon. Leonard King said he had been expecting a package when he got a message saying the driver had "run into an issue."
"I'm guessing that was the issue," King said.
An Amazon spokesperson released a statement Friday night saying,
"This was a scary incident. We're grateful that the Delivery Service Partner drivers are safe and to everyone who responded at the scene."
Witnesses said they were grateful for the neighbor who helped pull the second worker from the damaged truck.
