At least three drivers crushed to death by trees in NJ storms

At least three people were killed by felled trees overnight Thursday as violent storms ripped through central New Jersey.

A pair of men, aged 25 and 79, were driving through Plainfield when a tree crushed their vehicle, taking numerous power lines down with it sometime between 6 and 7 p.m., officials said.

In North Plainfield, a driver pulled over on Greenbrook Road to ride out the storm and was also killed when a large tree fell on top of her car, according to the city’s mayor.

“I saw the tree on the car and I realized, the whole sidewalk had come up,” Michelle Smith told ABC 7. “It was very chaotic, a lot of people were trying to look inside the car, the car lights were still on and after some time we realized with the conditions of the storm and the size of that tree that most likely the person had been deceased.”

None of the victims’ identities have been released.

Both cities were under a state of emergency at the time as the violent storm tore through the state, bringing with it gusts as high as 80 mph.

There were more than two dozen storm reports from the National Weather Service around central New Jersey where wind gusts of between 60 and 65 mph were recorded. 

Nearly 20,000 households were without power Friday morning, with more than half the outages concentrated in Middlesex County, PowerOutage.us reported.

Videos taken across central New Jersey show downed trees that had smashed into homes and littered roadways.

The North Plainfield fire department said several homes sustained “significant structural harm.” 

The state of emergency for both Plainfield and North Plainfield was still in effect Friday, and the widespread damage prompted North Plainfield to cancel all its 4th of July activities.

“The devastating storm that struck our city has left deep scars, widespread damage, and thousands still without power. In light of this tragedy, we cannot, in good conscience, proceed with our Fourth of July parade, concert, or fireworks,” the city said in a statement.

“This is not a time for celebration. It is time to regroup and focus all our energy on recovery.”