PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY —
A 28-year old man was killed and six others were injured after lightning struck a tree and a limb fell into a backyard during a Mother's Day barbecue on Paulison Avenue.
Lightning hit the tree at 4:58 p.m. causing a tree limb to fall in the backyard of 375 Paulison Avenue where a family was having barbecue, Lt. Jonathon Schaer said.
"It's an act of God, as unfortunate as it is," Schaer said.
The 28-year-old man died from his injuries at the hospital where he had been transported in critical condition . Schaer said his name is being withheld pending family notification.
Rain and isolated thunder storms with estimated wind gusts between 50 to 60 miles per hour came through the area around 4:30 p.m. and lasted about an hour.
"The main impact with the storms that came was the strong wind gusts," National Weather Service Meteorologist Brian Ciemnecki said.
The storms developed in Upstate New York and came down across the region.
"It was a sunny day," Ciemnecki said. "It probably caught a lot of people off-guard."
Six people were taken to St. Joseph Hospital from the barbecue in Passaic. Five have minor injuries and one is in critical condition.
The National Weather Service also received numerous reports of damage in the area from trees.
In Rutherford, three trees came down with the storm hitting trees and downed electric poles, Rutherford Sgt. Jeff Wilkinson said.
Trees fell on Maple Street, Raymond and Wilson Avenues around 4:45 p.m. There were no injuries reported to on Maple Street and Raymond where trees fell on houses. There minimal damage was caused to the houses that are still habitable.
Significant damage was caused to electric poles on Wilson Avenue. There is limited power in the area and at least a dozen houses so far reporting outages, according to Wilkinson.
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PASSAIC, New Jersey (WABC) -- A man has died after being struck in the head by a falling tree in New Jersey.
A lightning bolt hit the tree just before 5 p.m. Sunday during the passing storm. The 28-year-old was outside during a Mother's Day backyard barbecue on 375 Paulison Avenue in Passaic.
Multiple other people were injured.