Thousands without power after severe weather in Central Jersey

Thousands of Central Jersey residents from the Delaware River to Raritan Bay remain without power Wednesday morning in the wake of a violent thunderstorm that left a path of destruction Tuesday evening.

After a day of near 100-degree weather, the storms crossed into New Jersey from Pennsylvania, first battering Frenchtown and other municipalities in western Hunterdon County before speeding into Somerset County in the northern part of Hillsborough along Amwell Road before rushing into Middlesex County and causing havoc in Edison and Metuchen.

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jersey Central Power and Light is reporting more than 7,000 customers without power in its coverage area, with the hardest hit areas in Hiillsborough and Raritan Township.

Other hard hit areas include Kingwood with 677 outages, Franklin (Hunterdon) with 785 outages and Frenchtown with 335 outages.

Hillsborough has opened a cooling/charging center at the Municipal Building from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Several roads remain closed in the area due to downed wires and fallen trees. At 10 a.m. Hunterdon County is reporting 10 roads closed, including Route 519 in Kingwood and Main Street in Flemington. Hillsborough police are reporting several road closures in the far western part of the township between Neshanic and Clover Hill.

PSE&G is reporting about 1,300 customers without power Wednesday morning with outages centered in Metuchen and Edison. Metuchen Mayor Jonathan Busch said the storm has caused some damage.

"Initial reports suggest multiple trees and branches down at various places around the borough. Emergency officials are in the process of assessing the damage," Busch said in a Facebook post.

Shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday heavy rain and winds passed through the area, knocking branches and power lines into the street, and overturning lawn furniture.

The storm also impacted areas of Monroe, South Brunswick and Woodbridge.

Edison Township sent out a message that due to the weather the fire and public works departments are out at the Heights neighborhood off Grandview Avenue.

Mayor Sam Joshi said the areas around of Harmon, Montview, Wilk, and O'Hara roads and other pockets across Edison experienced an intense flash storm that caused trees to be uprooted, downed wires and neighborhoods without power.

He said damage was significant to some homes, but no injuries were reported and PSE&G along with the township DPW tree crews and other public safety personnel responded quickly to restore power and clear debris.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Thousands without power after severe weather in Central Jersey