"It was kind of apocalyptic": Cleanup underway in Haddonfield after powerful storms
HADDONFIELD, N.J. (CBS) -- In Haddonfield, a powerful thunderstorm blew through in a matter of minutes and left behind a path of destruction by downing trees, powerlines and damaging cars.
On Hawthorne Avenue right off of Grove Street, many of these side roads have been closed Wednesday as crews work to clear downed trees and powerlines.
One home sustained a lot of damage after a tree hit the roof, the porch and both cars in the driveway.
With trees toppled over on more than a half dozen streets in Haddonfield, many neighbors in this community say they won't soon forget this strong Fourth of July thunderstorm.
"It just was like a wall of white going by the window and really loud so we rushed everybody into our basement," Liz Zankowski said.
Zankowski had a house full of family over for the Fourth, but around 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, a tall tree landed in her yard – destroying the swimming pool equipment and it took out part of her fence.
"It was kind of apocalyptic, but the sky was really blue and sunny but there was just trees down everywhere and you could smell burning from all the live wires that were down," Zankowski said.
Crews spent Wednesday cleaning up the toppled trees and downed power lines.
The heavy winds left some wires dangling in the street -- and even wrapped around a basketball hoop.
"We started getting text messages last night about branches down and trees down," Rich Lauletta said.
Lauletta raced home from the Shore and found a tree uprooted in his yard. He owns one of the oldest homes in Haddonfield built in 1795.
"Luckily it didn't hit my house but did level our shed and some other damage to our neighbor's shed and garage," he said.
Trees also landed on cars, but many in this community are grateful no one was hurt.
"If it's cars, if it's houses, if it's power down, oh well. Everything is replaceable, but no injuries, it's pretty incredible no one got injured here," Tom Heine said.
No one was seriously hurt, and many neighbors have a positive outlook and have been helping each other clean up.
There are still some power outages in this area, but PSE&G told customers the power should be restored by Wednesday evening.
