21-Year-Old Woman Killed By Falling Tree In New Jersey After Powerful Storms
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A family was in shock late Wednesday, after a 21-year-old college student was struck and killed by a falling tree outside her home in Bergen County, New Jersey.
As CBS2's Elise Finch reported, people were surveying storm damage in the area Wednesday morning, when a woman saw that a tree in her yard had fallen on her younger sister.
Neighbors had run outside after hearing a huge crash and saw a Norway maple tree laying on top of four vehicles on River Edge Avenue in New Milford. The incident happened hours after powerful storms ripped through the area.
"When my mom woke us up this morning to check out the cars, she didn't even see the body at all either. She was underneath the trees," said Tabish Mian.
Tabish Mian said it was just after 7 a.m. when she found the tree on the family vehicles. When she looked closer, she saw the lifeless body of her sister, Michelle Mian, under branches on the ground next to the car.
"I just woke up in the morning and came to the car and I saw that her body was there on the ground, and then I saw that she wasn't breathing either," her older sister, Tabish Mian, told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria. "Then we called the ambulance immediately, and that's it. We don't know what time she went out there. She has school at 7:30, and that's when we found her."
21-Year-Old Woman Killed By Falling Tree In New Jersey After Powerful Storms
Minutes later, Michelle Mian was pronounced dead at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.
"It appears that maybe due to the rain and the age of the tree that the tree broke in half," police Detective Lt. Brian Long told WCBS 880's Levon Putney.
Holy Name is the very same hospital where the Bergen Community College student was working to become a radiology technician.
21-Year-Old Woman Killed By Falling Tree In New Jersey After Powerful Storms
"I don't believe it. I'm, like, in shock. I just don't know what I'm going to do without my little sister," said Tabish Mian. "Beautiful, artistic, talented -- she's the kindest person you'll ever meet. Like, she's amazing in so many ways, and it's not fair that she's not with us right now."
The family moved into the home last year. Michelle Mian's funeral will be held in a mosque in Teaneck.
"She's somebody who if she walked in, you were her best friend instantly," one family friend said. "She was a very, very beautiful person -- inside and out."'
As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported, Michelle Rodriguez said Michelle Mian was her best friend.
"She will definitely be missed by everyone, but I know she's in a better place," Rodriguez said.
At the Muslim Center of Bergen County in Teaneck Wednesday night, people gathered not only to observe the religious holiday of Ramadan, but also to console each other and remember the woman who made friends easily wherever she went.
"She was beautiful. She was talented. She had a beautiful light around her," Rodriguez said. "Everybody in town knew her and loved her."
Police said it is unclear why the tree broke in half, but it happened hours after severe thunderstorms ripped through the Tri-State area overnight, downing trees and knocking out power all across the region.
PHOTOS: Hackettstown Storm Damage: June 30, 2015
News of the young woman's death had people across Bergen County thankful that they only had property damage. Huge trees in River Edge were ripped out of the ground by heavy rain and strong winds, which sent them crashing onto cars and homes and blocking roads.
"This tulip poplar – probably stood about 85 feet tall -- took two or three phone poles with it," said Joe Messina of River Edge as he surveyed damage.
Other trees were splintered by repeated lightning strikes.
"The way the house was lighting up was kind of scary," said Matthew LeGreca of River Edge.
"Every so often, you heard transformers going off and the sky would turn blue," said Liz Gentles of River Edge.
"One never knows what these storms are going to do to anything," added Edwin Koch. "One just never knows."
In Clifton, a massive tree completely uprooted during the storm and fell onto the back of a house on Rosedale Avenue. The homeowner told CBS2 off camera that he's lucky only his gutters are damaged and no one was hurt.
Clifton resident Marriane Ferrante said she left her bedroom window open, and ended up getting drenched with wind-swept rain while she slept.
"I was soaking wet," she said. "I said to my husband, 'I'm soaking wet.' He said, 'So am I.'"
Clifton resident Paul Marositz said fierce winds lifted his family's trampoline from their backyard to the street corner.
"The wind was worse than Sandy -- that's how loud it was," Marositz told CBS2's Andrea Grymes.
And Don Fugate ended up with a tree on his car. He did not realize it had happened until hours later.
"I hear the lightning and the thunder and everything else, and then I just heard the biggest bang," he said.
Fugate's vehicle was likely totaled, but no one was hurt.
Several residents were wondering if a tornado came through the town, but there were no reports of funnel clouds in the area.
In Connecticut, the storms knocked out power to several thousand people and in New York, Con Edison reported scattered outages across Westchester County.
