Essex County Storms Cause Damage, Outages: Thursday

Essex County, NJ – Severe storms caused power outages across Essex County for thousands of residents on Thursday, PSE&G and municipal officials reported.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service issued a thunderstorm warning earlier in the day, predicting strong wind gusts, hail and heavy rainfall along with frequent cloud-to-ground lightning.

Forecasters also called for a simultaneous heat warning, with heat index values approaching 100 degrees.

• See related article: 101-Degree Heat Index In N.J., Threat Of Thunderstorms, Hail Thursday: NWS

In Maplewood, a falling tree closed Burnet Street near Maplewood Middle School, police announced at 4:06 p.m.

“PSE&G is experiencing widespread power outages due to the passing storm,” Montclair town officials announced at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. “Crews are actively working to restore power to customers.”

As of Thursday at 5 p.m., PSE&G’s online outage map showed major outages across the county:

• An outage affecting 818 customers was reported in Livingston near Rumson Road, with an estimated restoration around 9 p.m. on Thursday, and another outage affecting 1,687 customers was reported near Springbrook Road with an estimated restoration time of 9 p.m. on Thursday
• An outage affecting 729 customers was reported in Verona near Pompton Avenue, with an estimated restoration time of 9 p.m. on Thursday
• An outage affecting 1,257 customers was reported in Glen Ridge near Essex Avenue, with an estimated restoration time of 9 p.m. on Thursday
• An outage affecting 1,359 customers was reported in Newark near Gould Place, with an estimated restoration time of 9:15 p.m. on Thursday

Sign up for Patch NJ email newsletters here.

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com