| Storm system breaks heatwave, knocks out power |
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Officials say a backup generator was being used at the couple's home in King of Prussia after strong thunderstorms knocked out electrical service to the area on Tuesday evening.
Police were called to the home after 9 a.m. Wednesday after the woman, a school teacher, failed to report for work. The coroner's office was called and the woman was airlifted to a hospital.
Investigators are trying to determine if the generator was the source of the fumes.
Thousands of customers remain without power because the storms brought down trees and power lines, especially in Montgomery and Chester counties.
Fast-moving storms that rolled through upstate New York on Tuesday are blamed for at least two deaths.
Tuesday's storms knocked over trees, brought down power lines and damaged homes in an area stretching from the Rochester area to the Catskills and the Vermont border.
Authorities in St. Lawrence County in northern New York issued an advisory against unnecessary travel because of extensive storm damage there.
National Grid reported about 28,000 of its customers were without power Wednesday, most of them in central and northern New York. New York State Electric & Gas reported about 15,000 without power, most of them in the Catskills, while Central Hudson Gas & Electric said it had 30,000 outages in Ulster, Dutchess and Orange counties.
Improved weather will help crews restore power to some NYSEG customers Wednesday, but others may not get their electricity back until Friday, utility spokesman Clayton Ellis said. National Grid expected to have power restored in some areas by the end of the day, but the utility said power restoration estimates for some of the hardest hit areas in northern New York hadn't been determined.
Logger Kenneth Yousey Jr., 47, was killed in Lewis County when he was hit by a tree blown down by high winds and a 51-year-old Pennsylvania man died after his motorcycle hit a tree that had fallen across an Adirondack road.
State police said Gordon Hall Jr. of New Columbia, Pa., was riding in the town of Wilmington when his motorcycle hit the fallen tree. He was later pronounced dead at a Lake Placid hospital.
The heat wave has ended in New Jersey, but the misery continued Wednesday for thousands whose electricity was knocked out when thunderstorms downed trees and power lines in northern counties.
The storm also disrupted rail service for some morning commuters and led to school closings in several towns.
No injuries were reported, but a number of cars were damaged by falling trees, including in Cliffside Park, where Christopher Henze described what he heard and felt.
"Just sort of one amazingly intense gust that went by and I heard it in my house. It felt like my roof was going to come off my house. Got my attention real quick," Henze told WNBC-TV in New York. "Then I heard stuff falling in my yard. My immediate thought was for my 1-year-old."
Public Service Electric & Gas says about 90,500 customers are without power in Passaic, Bergen, Hudson and Essex counties. That's down from about 150,000 on Tuesday night.
Some may not have power for several days because of damage to transmission equipment, PSE&G spokeswoman Patty Johnson said.
JCP&L reported about 2,900 customers don't have electricity in parts of Sussex, Passaic, Morris and Somerset counties. At its peak, about 21,000 were without power. JCP&L expects to have everyone restored by the end of Wednesday.
NJ Transit suspended morning train service on the Montclair-Boonton line, but said it would resume operations about 1 p.m. and a normal evening commute was expected.
NJ Transit also reported significant delays of up to two hours on the Morris & Essex lines because of damage from the powerful storms, but those were expected to ease during the afternoon.
The agency said 16 trees fell onto its tracks, downing power and signal lines in a number of locations.
Rail tickets will be honored on NJ Transit and DeCamp buses as well as the Newark Light Rail.
More travel troubles and power outages were being reported in Connecticut as well.
Thousands of Connecticut Light & Power Co. customers in lower Fairfield County lost electricity, most of them in New Canaan. Widespread outages were also reported in Litchfield County, including all 832 customers in Colebrook at one point and 2,700 in Salisbury.
CL&P reported Wednesday morning that nearly 15,100 of its more than 1 million customers in Connecticut remained without power, down from 31,200 outages overnight. The Berlin-based utility sent out crews to repair damage and clear downed trees.
The United Illuminating Co. said more than 4,000 of its customers in southern Connecticut were without electricity, mostly in Bridgeport and Stratford.
Metro-North officials said there was no train service on the New Canaan branch Wednesday morning. They said the storms knocked over a huge tree that pulled down seven catenary lengths of overhead wire and damaged much of the supporting steel.
Rail service officials said the 2,000 customers who use the New Canaan branch during the morning peak were told they could catch a train at the Stamford station.
Repairs were expected to be completed in time for afternoon peak service. There were enough buses available to provide midday, off-peak service, train officials said.
Temperatures are expected to be in the 80s for the next few days with lower humidity, bringing relief after temperatures broke 100 degrees in parts of the Northeast earlier in the week.
Public Service of New Hampshire said almost 1,000 homes and businesses were still without power by late morning Wednesday — many in the northern part of the state and around the town of Newport.
"We believe most customers should have power restored this morning," said spokesman Martin Murray.
At the height of the storm, nearly 20,000 homes and businesses were without power.
Temperatures in Concord reached 98 degrees Tuesday — breaking the 1959 record for June 10 of 95 degrees. Manchester reported temperatures of 100 degrees.
The storms moved through in waves, beginning in the afternoon and continuing into the night. They brought hail and strong winds that dropped trees and limbs. Lightning was almost constant in some areas.
The storms were caused by a cold front that collided with the hot, humid air, according to Art Lester, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service. They hit western New Hampshire after rolling across New York state Tuesday afternoon.
Hail as large as 1 1/4 inches in Jackson was reported. Smaller hail was reported in Sandwich and Gorham.
The Weather Service says a funnel cloud — like a tornado that doesn't touch the ground — was seen near Gorham around 5 p.m.
But it looks like the hot, humid weather is over ... at least for the moment.
"The cold front brought an end to the heat wave," Lester said. "We're going to have fair weather for the next few days."
