Three people were killed when severe thunderstorms swept through New Jersey on Thursday night, officials say.
A spokesperson for the city of Plainfield said two men were killed when a tree fell onto a vehicle they were in. The victims have been identified as 79-year-old Rocco Sansone and 29-year-old Brian Ernesto Valladares.
"Our hearts are heavy today. This tragedy is a sobering reminder of the power of nature and the fragility of life," Plainfield Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said in a statement. "We mourn with the families and stand ready to support them in every way possible."
Sansone's sister, Gigi Neal, said she got the tragic news in the middle of the night.
"He was down to earth, he just was a good guy. I just miss him. I just, I don't know what to say," she said.
Police in the borough of North Plainfield said a 44-year-old woman from Middlesex was also killed when a tree fell on top of her vehicle. It happened around 6:30 p.m. Thursday as the woman was pulled over on Greenbrook Road. Her name has not been released.
Plainfield, N.J. under state of emergency
Many of the toppled trees pulled down power lines and left as many as 8,000 customers without electricity for over 24 hours.
"It's been two nights with no power, and it's super hot," one resident said Friday evening.
Roads were blocked off by the debris, and police urged drivers to avoid fallen power lines that were hanging low into the street.
"It was just amazing. I said, what is this, a hurricane, a tornado?" Plainfield resident Hector Gomez said.
The wind was so powerful, it uprooted a tree on Gomez's front lawn, damaging his roommate's car and ripping through a gas line.
"When I walked to the front of the house, I hear this shhhh and smell of gas," Gomez said.
"When I got home, I didn't think it was going to be this bad," one resident said Friday morning. "Plainfield's strong, we're going to recover, we're going to help each other recover from this."
"We were out here last night cutting down the tree and getting tree limbs out of the road so that, hopefully, first responders could come fast. They see the road is clear, maybe they'll come and do the repairs soon," another resident added.
"The devastation caused by this storm event, it is something that we haven't seen in decades," Mapp said.
New Jersey facing thousands of power outages
Earlier Thursday, Edison and Metuchen saw similar scenes in Middlesex County. Huge trees snapped and littered the streets with their branches.
Crews are still working to restore power to people who are stuck in the dark and without air conditioning. PSE&G said it hopes to have customers back online by 11 p.m. Saturday.
Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Murphy says he's in close touch with local mayors and emergency responders to provide support.
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