TEANECK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Strong winds sent a tree crashing down onto a man in Teaneck, New Jersey Sunday.
As CBS2’s Hazel Sanchez reported, the huge limbs came crashing down onto the pickup truck belong to Robert Battle, 60, and the impact rattled the neighborhood.
“Like an explosion; like a car accident actually,” said neighbor Rashaad Rice.
Most stunned was Battle. His truck was parked outside his mother’s home on Voorhees Street off Teaneck Road.
He had just finished an early Thanksgiving celebration with his family and was getting into his truck to head home, when his sister-in-law said sensed something was headed his way.
“He heard a creaking noise, and when he turned around, the tree was coming down,” said the victim’s sister-in-law, Ruth Battle. “He managed to get the upper part of his body out of the way. The tree crushed the front of the car and it would have crushed him if he didn’t get himself out of the way. Some of the limbs came down on his legs.”
Crews spent all day chopping apart the tree. Some large limbs landed on Battle’s lap, trapping him for at least 50 minutes until emergency crews could safely pry him out.
Battle was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
His family said he surprisingly did not break any bones.
The tree also cut power for 90 customers when it fell, according to PSE&G. Power was expected to be restored late Sunday.
“I always wondered when it’s going to fall and if it’s going to hurt anyone, so if finally happened,” said neighbor Eustace Jarrett.
Jarrett said for a long time, people on the street worried that the aging tree was rotting. He said they asked township leaders to remove it, but the full job was never done.
“They came and repaired some of the branches, but that tree was always a menace – always a menace,” Jarrett said, “and I’m not surprised that it fell.”
Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin said he was unaware about any public concerns about the tree. But he said the township will be looking into it.
Battle’s family was thankful he was OK, and also that no one else was hurt.
The strong winds also brought down a large tree in West Nyack, Rockland County. Power lines came down with the tree.
Strong winds brought down a tree in West Nyack on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017. (Credit: RocklandFires)
Crews had to shut down South Greenbush Road, and the homeowner suffered minor injuries. ===================
TEANECK, New Jersey (WABC) --
The wind proved powerful and frightening in New Jersey on Sunday.
A man was rushed to the hospital after a huge tree landed on top of a pickup truck on Voorhees St. in Teaneck. Firefighters responded to flames triggered by the downed wires.
The tree fell around 1:30 Sunday afternoon. Workers are now chopping away at the mammoth trunk so they can clear the road and pull out the pickup truck.
Neighbors believe the truck belongs to the son of one of the residents in the neighborhood. The man was not believed to be in the truck at the time. Eyewitness News is told he was in the process of loading things into his pickup when the tree collapsed. The extent of his injuries is not known, but he is expected to survive.
The tree also took down live power lines, which then set some shrubs on fire. Firefighters responded quickly and were able to keep the flames from spreading to nearby homes and trees.
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Dangerous Winds Topple Trees, Toss Scaffolds in Tri-State
Winds with gusts of up to 50 mph tore through much of the tri-state Sunday, knocking down trees and sending scaffold on buildings swinging.
There were reports of the wind knocking trees down across the tri-state, including one in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx that smashed into parked cars. No one was injured.
A tree fell onto cars in the Soundview section of the Bronx.
In Teaneck, New Jersey, a tree fell on a man who was loading his truck, police said. The man had a possible broken femur but was expected to survive. The tree brought down power lines and power had to be cut to the area as the debris was cleared.
In SoHo, scaffolding fell into a street, injuring five people. It's unclear if winds were to blame, but over in Tribeca, a scaffold on a building swung violently in the wind.
The wind also caused delays at all three of the area's major airports. Inbound delays of 2 hours were reported at Newark Sunday night.