Thousands of New Jersey residents remained without electricity Shabbos after powerful thunderstorms packing wind gusts of more than 70 mph swept across the state Friday night, toppling trees, snapping utility poles, and causing widespread damage.
As of Motzei Shabbos, nearly 121,000 customers served by Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) and Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) were still without power.
Among the hardest-hit communities was Lakewood, where thousands of residents spent Shabbos without electricity after the powerful storm ripped through the township shortly after the start of Shabbos. With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, thousands of families endured sweltering conditions throughout Shabbos as utility crews worked around the clock to restore power.
“This line of storms basically moved through our entire service area,” JCP&L spokesman Chris Hoenig said. “It went north to south, and there are very few areas of our service area that were not affected. This was an extremely severe line of storms.”
Hoenig said crews are dealing with extensive damage, including downed trees and broken utility poles. More than 1,700 workers are operating 16-hour shifts, with additional mutual aid crews brought in from outside the area. Utility workers restored power to approximately 50,000 customers overnight, but no timetable has yet been provided for full restoration.
The hardest-hit areas include Morris County, with more than 51,000 outages, and Monmouth County, where more than 39,000 customers remain without power. PSE&G customers in Essex, Middlesex, and Union counties also experienced significant outages.
JCP&L is providing free ice and bottled water to affected customers at participating Acme, Food Circus, and ShopRite locations.
The storms also caused widespread transportation disruptions. NJ Transit suspended service on portions of the Morris & Essex and North Jersey Coast lines after more than 50 trees fell across the tracks. Fallen trees and power lines also forced numerous road closures across the state.
In Medford, lightning struck the roof of Fellowship Alliance Chapel, sparking a fire that required crews from nine fire departments to contain. No injuries were reported.
Officials also warned that power outages affecting pump stations in Wall Township could reduce water pressure for some South Monmouth Utility Authority customers.
Scotch Plains Mayor Josh Losardo confirmed that one person was killed during Friday night’s storms, though no additional details were immediately released.
Forecasters warned that another round of severe thunderstorms could move through parts of New Jersey Saturday night, though they are expected to be somewhat weaker than Friday’s storms.
