Tens of thousands of people were left in the dark Sunday evening after a strong line of storms downed trees and power lines. NBC10’s Drew Smith came upon damage across the area.
A strong line of storms moved through the area Sunday evening bringing down trees, causing power outages and sparking a house fire.
The storms, which were screaming east, hit the western suburbs around 5 p.m. bringing horizontal rains and wind gusts as high as 74 mph.
In Blackwood, New Jersey, there was a report of snapped trees and 74 mph winds. Gusts in Delaware County hit the 60s.
Lightning struck a home in Moorestown, New Jersey starting a small fire. Firefighters were able to quickly estinguish the blaze. Homeowner Christine Vanzyl said flames were "roaring out the side of the house."
"We all got out really fast though," she said.
At the height of the storm, more than 28,000 homes and businesses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware were without power.
The worst hit was South Jersey were some 19,000 PSE&G customers were left in the dark. More than half have been restored since.
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PECO Energy reported about 8,000 customers without power around 6:30 p.m. The hardest hit area was Chester County with more than 6,000 customers left in the dark, officials said.
Delmarva Power said they had 2,400 customers without power near Pike Creek, Delaware.
Crews were quickly able to restore service for most customers by the time the sun set.
A few lingering thunderstorms were moving across central and southern Delaware and the Jersey Shore about 9 p.m., but the rest of the area was relatively clear.
