NJ Recovering From Record Rainfall, Downed Trees, Flooded Streets, Power Outages

Heavy flooding and thunderstorms pummeled New Jersey on Thursday, flooding roads, frying power grids and submerging vehicles.

Severe thunderstorm watches with the threat of wind, hail and lightning stretched across the state from the early afternoon through early Thursday evening. While a State of Emergency was declared earlier in the day for New Jersey, it was hardly the only state caught up in the downpours. An estimated 48 million people were under flash flood alerts during that same time in areas stretching from Virginia all the way to New York City.

There were two tornado warnings issued in New Jersey on Thursday, although none were ever confirmed.

Rainfall Totals

Some locations throughout the tri-state area saw more than five inches of rain hit the ground Thursday. Atlantic City Airport broke its record for most rain falling in a single day, at 3.07 inches.

Rainfall Reports Across The State (National Weather Service):

Power Outages

More than 22,600 homes and businesses were without power across the state as of 5:15 p.m. That number had fallen to about 18,000 by 6:30 p.m. Jersey Central Power & Light was reporting 11,232 customers out, most of them in Manchester Township in Ocean County.

Power Outages Linger As Severe Storms Deluge Manchester

Customers Without Power As of 10:31 a.m. on Friday, August 1:

PSEG: 1,343

First Energy: 410

Atlantic City Electric: 75

Transportation Woes

At one point, travelers trying to leave out of Newark Liberty International Airport faced an average delay of at least an hour and 45 minutes across all flights. All inbound flights arriving in the New York area at one point had delays of at least two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half hours, on average.

Philadelphia International Airport had also issued a ground stop for inbound flights, which was later lifted shortly after 6 p.m.

New Jersey Transit rail service was suspended in two areas on Thursday, and a tree blocked a portion of a railway between Bernardsville and Gladstone. The branches fell on wires and across the tracks, but no injuries were reported.

Local response teams are being lauded for their efforts on Friday after keeping their areas safe and with minimal damage leftover to the roads. In Morris County, emergency officials highlighted the quality of work put in by the area's first responders, saying, "we are proud of the proactive coordination that took place behind the scenes."

First Responders Praised By Morris Co. Officials For Flood Preparation

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