Wind, rain knock out power to 450K in Northeast

26 mins ago

The winds downed trees and power lines throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The New York City area and southern New Jersey were among the hardest hit, with wind gusts of up to 67 mph recorded and power cut to a combined 335,000 customers.

In New York, ferry service to Staten Island was suspended Saturday night because of heavy winds.

In New Jersey, Public Service Electric & Gas reported more than 135,000 customers without power, and Atlantic City Electric said more than 35,000 of its customers were in the dark.

In Atlantic City, the horizontal arm of a boom crane collapsed at the Revel Casino construction site. Debris went flying and crashed through the driver‘s side window of a police cruiser, injuring Atlantic City police Officer Brian Hurley.

Two condominium complexes near the construction site were evacuated and several area roads were briefly closed. The winds also caused at least two homes to collapse and damaged other homes and buildings.

Rail service was suspended on major lines throughout New Jersey on Saturday night because of flooding, said NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett.

But officials downgraded some of their river crest projections Saturday in western Pennsylvania as rainfall appeared to be less than was projected.

Flood warnings were issued for several rivers in northern Jersey, including the Ramapo River at Mahwah and Saddle River at Lodi, where minor to moderate flooding was expected Saturday night and Sunday. Coastal flood and high wind warnings were in effect for the Jersey Shore.

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