Thousands without power, trees down after strong storms hit region

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Storms that rolled through the Lehigh Valley and New Jersey on Wednesday night knocked out power for thousands of customers as high winds and heavy rain uprooted trees and closed some roads around the region.

Thursday morning, about 30,000 people in the Lehigh Valley still didn't have power, a mix of PPL and Met-Ed customers.

The local National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey said reports of downed trees and power lines came in from Berks County, including Centre Township, Hamburg, Mount Penn, Temple, Pocono Pines, Oley, and more reports came in from Bethlehem, Hellertown, Easton and other locations.

There were also reports of inch-wide hail in Burlington, New Jersey. And in East Orange, up in Essex County, a father-to-be was killed when a tree fell in his backyard , CBS New York reported.

In Jenkintown, a trained spotter reported downed trees and wires on Baeder Road, Rodman Avenue and Old York Road, and a tree that landed on a house on Rodman Avenue, according to the National Weather Service.

There was also a downed tree at a Starbucks on Old York Road. The business appeared to be closed as workers gathered up the leaves and branches all over the parking lot.

What the PPL Outage tracker shows

PPL Electric's outage tracker reported about 16,000 customers without power between Lehigh and Northampton counties, a number that had dropped by thousands as power was being restored in the early morning hours Thursday.

What the Met-Ed power outage tracker shows

Met-Ed's outage tracker said about 14,000 customers were without power in Northampton County, 20% of their customers there, along with a few hundred each in Berks, Bucks and Lehigh counties.

Over in New Jersey, Jersey Central Power & Light's outage tracker reported over 54,000 outages, largely in North and Central Jersey, though there were 13,000 outages in Ocean County.

Closer to Philadelphia, there were just a few hundred JCPL outages in Mercer County and only a handful in Burlington County.

Little damage or power outages in Philadelphia area, South Jersey

Other power companies including PECO, PSE&G and Atlantic City Electric reported few outages after Wednesday night's storms.

Peak wind gusts over 50 mph were reported across Lehigh and Northampton counties, including a 59 mph gust measured in Forks Township.