Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Tens of thousands without power after storms roar through New Jersey, New York City, Long Island


Tens of thousands without power after storms roar through Long Island, New Jersey
The severe thunderstorm that moved through the Tri-State Area Tuesday morning brought with them thunder and intense lightning and led to tens of thousands of power outages across Long Island and New Jersey.

Suffolk County particular was particularly hard hit.

From viewer Evelyn De Costa in Setauket:

About 42,000 customers on Long Island are in the dark; more than 5,600 customers in New Jersey were without power. LaGuardia airport has 45-minute delays; other airports are functioning normally. Half of the Long Island outages are in Brookhaven; all of them are in Suffolk County.

About 200 customers were without power in New York.

The Port Jefferson line of the Long Island Rail Road was suspended in both directions between Port Jefferson and Stony Brook due to downed trees and power lines. There is hourly service between Smithtown and Huntington as LIRR crews work to clear the tracks.

Some platform signs on the Port Jefferson Branch are out of service also due to weather. All Ronkonkoma Branch trains continue to make all local stops Ronkonkoma through Deer Park, and Jamaica.

Customers were encouraged to use the Ronkonkoma or Montauk lines.

Also on Long Island, damage been reported in Setauket, Stony Brook, Wading River, St. James and Port Jefferson.

Trains in and out of New York's Penn Station are subject to up to 15-minute delays, due to an Amtrak switch problem.

Photos of damage in Setauket: