12K Power Outages, NJ Transit Suspensions Following Monday Storm

NEW JERSEY — More than 12,000 New Jersey residents woke up without electricity Tuesday morning thanks to Monday night's high winds, which also brought trees down on top of homes in Chatham and Cedar Grove.

Nobody was injured in either of those incidents, according to CBS New York and NJ 101.5. But so many trees are down in the borough that Chatham schools are operating on a two-hour delayed opening Tuesday morning, according to local police.

The National Weather Service previously warned there could be 70 mph wind gusts Monday night.

The high winds also fanned the flames of a fire in North Bergen, which grew so great Monday evening that it tore through multiple buildings and displaced 10 families, according to ABC New York. In Aberdeen, there was a gas leak as of 6:15 a.m. in the area of Atlantic Avenue, according to Aberdeen Police. There are delays around the Matawan-Aberdeen train station.

Many trains on the Morris & Essex line are canceled Tuesday morning, after the wind brought a pole and wires down onto the tracks in Maplewood, said NJ Transit. The North Jersey Coast line is experiencing 20-minute delays due to tree debris on the tracks in Middletown.

The Morris & Essex line and Gladstone branch stopped running Monday evening due to the storm and intense wind.

In Bedminster, Pottersville Road between Route 206 and Black River Road is closed due to multiple downed utility poles and wires, according to the Basking Ridge Patch. And in Bernardsville, avoid Dryden Road between Turnbull and the county line. The road is shut due to power lines down.

South Jersey was mostly spared by the high winds, but in Ocean County, Rt. 9 remains closed in Berkeley Tuesday morning due to downed utility poles, the Ocean County Sheriff's office said.

The bulk of the power outages are in heavily wooded Monmouth and Warren counties: There are 500 homes currently out in Lincroft, another 500 homes in the dark in Howell; 100 homes out on the Holmdel-Marlboro border and pockets of homes in the dark in Wall, Neptune, Helmetta and the area around Six Flags Great Adventure.

In Warren County, pockets of up to 100 homes are in the dark near Hackettstown, Green Township and Hope. Up to 500 homes are without power in Mendham as of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

This is according to JCPL's statewide power outage map.

There was a dramatic transformer fire in the Lincroft section of Middletown Monday night; a resident captured video of power lines falling and exploding.

At the height of the storm Monday night, just past 10 p.m., about 1,500 homes in West Windsor and 1,000 homes in Old Bridge lost power. Both of those areas appear to be restored by Tuesday morning.

Do you have storm damage photos you want published on Patch? Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com