WATCH: PSEG Crews Contend With Wild Weather As They Battle To Restore Power In NJ

Extreme heat. Torrential rainstorms. The crackle of lightning. This is some of the wild weather that PSE&G work crews have been contending with over the past few days in New Jersey.

The state was hit with a devastating one-two punch of heat and storms over the week of Independence Day.

The ugliness kicked off last Wednesday with a prolonged heat wave. Temperatures soared to above 100 degrees in many parts of the state, leading to a spike in demand as air conditioners cranked up across New Jersey.

The heat wave was followed by severe thunderstorms on Friday – and even more storms on Saturday. Strong winds, fallen trees and heavy rain took down power lines in PSE&G’s network, with more than 250 transformers impacted and nearly 240 utility poles damaged (see photos in gallery above).

The arms race between work crews and Mother Nature was captured in a stunning video clip featuring a sizzling burst of heat lightning.

In the below video, heat lighting flashes on the far horizon as PSE&G workers restore a circuit near Patriots Stadium in Bridgewater on Friday. The footage was captured before the storms arrived.

Utility workers have been hustling to keep up with the havoc, and have restored electricity to nearly 343,000 PSE&G customers since July 1.

“We know this has been an especially difficult week for many of our customers,” said Paul Toscarelli, vice president of electric operations at PSE&G, which has a headquarters in Newark.

“Some families have experienced days of heat followed by multiple rounds of damaging storms causing extended power outages,” Toscarelli said. “We understand how challenging that is, and we want our customers to know that every available crew – along with incoming out-of-state mutual aid crews – are working as safely and quickly as possible to restore service.”

Toscarelli said the damage from these back-to-back weather events was “extensive” in some locations and requires significant rebuilding of portions of the electric system.

The hard work of crews like those in the above video are playing a big role in that recovery, PSE&G spokespeople said.

“We sincerely appreciate everyone’s patience and thank our employees, contractors and mutual assistance partners who have been working tirelessly throughout the holiday weekend to restore power,” Toscarelli said.

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