Nor'easter Floods Streets, Topples Trees Across New Jersey

TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — The powerful coastal storm that passed through the Tri-State Area prompted scattered flooding, road closures and other issues Friday in New Jersey.

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Following the morning's high tide, the Shrewsbury River flooded Ocean Avenue in Sea Bright.

"What we're looking to experience is, more this storm than anything else, is the river flooding," Office of Emergency Management Director Dan Chernavsky told CBS2's Meg Baker.

Flooding was expected to peak again between 7:45 and 8:45 p.m.

"As always, if you're in any water or approaching water that's flooding the roadway, don't drive through it," Chernavsky said. "As your vehicle becomes disabled, it makes it difficult for go and get you. It puts us at unnecessary risk when you can just go around."

Two local roads in Absecon, near Atlantic City, were also closed, and there was additional flooding on Route 40 into and out of the gambling resort.

Route 35 in Brick and Belmar also experienced some flooding, with intermittent closures of one of the highway's two lanes.

One commuter posted a picture Friday morning that showed flooding at the Hoboken Terminal where water was covering the train tracks.

Snow also created some problems along Interstate 80 headed west, CBS2's Valerie Castro reported. Traffic slowed to a crawl and eventually came to a standstill after an accident shut down lanes near Exit 30.

But later in the day, it was the whipping winds that caused the greatest concerns.

Driving through slush and snow in the suburbs, CBS2's Jessica Layton stumbled upon several large trees that came crashing down, crushing cars below. There were big messes in Maplewood and Millburn, as well as Cranford at Judy Mack's childhood home.

"I called them and I said, 'get to the house, there's a tree on us,'" she said.

Her tenants were out for pizza when they heard the wind had ripped the roots from a neighbor's massive tree out of the ground, forcing it to topple over onto the back and side of the Retford Avenue home – with little Vido inside, scared and alone.

"I went into panic mode. I was thinking my dog was trapped inside and he was hurt or the house was on fire," tenant Denise Tripodi said.

The dog was fine, but the house wasn't.

Tripodi said the cleanup is a small price to pay.

"Oh my god, I'm so grateful," she said.

A couple miles away, firefighters told residents the outside wasn't safe. Live wires sparked a fire at the corner of Dietz Street and Ludlow Avenue that burned for hours.

"Boom, that's all I heard, boom," one resident said. 

In Livingston, a tree toppled into power lines and shut down the street. Another tree in Westfield trapped a car at a store parking lot and shattered a back window. The owner works at a nearby Lord & Taylor.

"Somebody told me. I got scared. I didn't expect this. Thank God I was not inside the car or anybody was inside the car," said Tatiana Romanello. "There's a broken window, I think the roof... I don't know. I want to go home in a couple hours. I don't know if I'm able to."

In a nearby neighborhood, a large tree crashed down on the roof of a home and the family inside at the time had to be evacuated. A relative said they were all OK but will be staying somewhere else for a few days until the damage can be closely inspected.

"It's scary. Nobody was hurt, fortunately. Obviously disappointed, because they're trying to get the upstairs rented. Now it's going to be a while longer before it happens," Craig Nowlin said.

Down the Shore, strong gusts ripped a roof off a building in Cape May and carried it away.

In Rutherford, fallen trees also knocked down live power lines.

In South Brunswick, the situation was similar.

Some flights were canceled at Newark Liberty International Airport, and there were service disruptions for New Jersey Transit riders.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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