RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service

Situation Update No. 1

Posted:2010-03-14, 04:10:56 [UTC]

Ref.no.: ST-20100314-25319-USA

Situation Update No. 1
On 2010-03-14 at 04:17:57 [UTC]

Event: Extreme Weather
Location: USA State of New Jersey New Jersey-wide

Number of Deads: 2 person(s)

A potentially deadly rain storm blew across New Jersey on Saturday, ripping off roofs, uprooting trees, causing widespread train suspension and knocking out power to about 166,000 customers. Police in Teaneck were investigating whether two people two people were killed by a falling tree Saturday night. The tree took down power lines as it fell. "We believe they were walking" on the sidewalk, Teaneck Police Chief Robert Wilson told The record of Bergen County. A police dispatcher told The Associated Press that the deaths were still being investigated. High winds caused a crane collapse at a casino under construction in Atlantic City, leaving a city police officer injured. The winds also caused at least two homes to collapse in that area and damaged numerous other homes and buildings. Newark Liberty Airport was experiencing delays of nearly four hours and all Amtrak service along the Northeast Corridor was suspended from New York to Philadelphia. Flood warnings were issued for several rivers in northern Jersey and coastal flood and high wind warnings were in effect for the Jersey Shore through 10 p.m. At least 4 inches of rain had fallen in parts of Atlantic, Camden, Gloucester, and Middlesex counties as of 9 p.m. and an additional 1 to 2 inches was expected through early Sunday.

Rain began falling Friday night and combined with strong winds on Saturday, with gusts reaching up to 70 mph. Winds knocked down numerous trees and power lines, causing power outages across the state. The hardest-hit area was southern Jersey, where Public Service Electric & Gas reported 130,000 customers without power, while Atlantic City Electric had about 36,000 customers in the dark. NJ Transit rail service was also suspended along the Northeast Corridor, as well as the North Jersey Coast Line, Raritan Valley Line, Atlantic City Rail Line and the Morris and Essex line west of Summit. Service on the Montclair-Boonton line was also suspended as were all trains going in and out of Hoboken, said NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett. "There is sever flooding," she said. "We have downed trees in the way. We're having signal problems on the Northeast Corridor." In Atlantic City, a city police officer was injured when the crane collapsed and sent debris flying. Large pieces of debris from the Revel casino construction site "was raining down on about a six-block area" on Saturday, police Capt. Bill McKnight said. The incident spurred the evacuation of two nearby condominium complexes and forced the brief closure of several area roads. Trees were strewn all along Route 3 in Essex County, about three miles outside the Lincoln Tunnel. The wind was so strong, it blew SUVs off the road.