Damaging winds take down trees, power lines on Christmas in NYC, NJ

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Saturday, December 26, 2020
Damaging winds take down trees, power lines across area
Damaging winds take down trees, power lines across areaAn overnight storm brought damaging winds across the Tri-State area into Christmas morning.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- An overnight storm brought damaging winds across the Tri-State area into Christmas morning.

New Jersey and the northern boroughs were hit particularly hard by the storm.

The wind was so powerful that the upper level of the Verrazzano Bridge had to be closed to traffic in both directions.

In Brooklyn, a tree came crashing down onto a parked car and damaged powerlines sent sparks flying onto the street in Boerum Hill.

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Meanwhile in Queens, Citizen App video showed burning electrical wires that knocked out power. Con Ed estimated that power would be restored by later Friday morning.

There was also damage reported in Rockland County. Pictures from the Town of Ramapo Police Department showed trees down on a house and a car.

Police say they responded to multiple reports of damage throughout the night. They are warning residents to stay on the lower levels of their homes and away from exterior windows and walls if possible until the strong winds have passed.

As of 3:30 p.m. Friday nearly 3,000 customers in Clarkstown were still without power and officials said not all would be restored by the end of the day.

A warming and charging center was opened at Street Community Center located at 31 Zukor Road in New City, it will remain open throughout the night.

Officials said they expected the vast majority of outages to be restored by 11 p.m. Saturday.

And in New Jersey, video shows serious damage where the storm blew the roofs off several buildings.

At one point, there were more than 60,000 customers without power in New Jersey.

On Main Street in Farmingdale, part of a roof could be seen on the ground.

In South Brunswick, downed powerlines were expected to impact road closures for most of the day.

At one point, there were more than 60,000 customers without power in New Jersey.

The New York City area will begin to dry out Friday afternoon and cool off as arctic air begins to invade the East Coast.

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