Severe Storms Cut Power, Delay Flights, End Yankees Game Early

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Flights were delayed by up to an hour and a half Wednesday evening, and thousands of customers lost power, as a round of severe thunderstorms pounded the area.

The storms brought torrential rain and a dramatic show of lightning to the area. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued through the evening for the five boroughs of New York City and several other areas.

The storms sneaked in quickly with a wall of clouds and rain, following an excessively hot day where the high topped out at 96 degrees in some areas.

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It was around 8:45 p.m. when the heavy rain began pounding New York City. As late as 11 p.m., heavy activity was still noted in Ramapo, New Jersey, and had just left Fairfield County, Connecticut, CBS 2's Lonnie Quinn reported.

As a result of the storms, delays of an hour and 30 minutes were reported at John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports, and delays of 30 minutes were reported at Newark Liberty International Airports, on Wednesday evening.

As of late Wednesday, thousands of customers were also without power. Con Edison reported 2,500 outages – 2,000 of them on Staten Island, while PSEG Long Island reported 1,300 outages – 1,100 of them on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens.

Jersey Central Power and Light reported 533 outages, and PSEG New Jersey saw 287.

The storms also prompted an early end to the Yankees' game against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium. After a lengthy delay, the game was called after five innings, and the Yankees won 2-1.

The Internet was abuzz late Wednesday about the Yankees ground crew and how long it took to get the rain tarp on the field. Fans at the game said it took about 15 minutes.

Quinn reported the storms were pushing off to the east for the overnight hours.

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