Severe Storms Leave Thousands of Orthodox Families in Lakewood, New Jersey Without Power on Hot Sabbath

Thousands of residents in New Jersey were left without electricity over the Sabbath following intense thunderstorms with wind gusts exceeding 110 km/h that swept through the state Friday night. The storms caused widespread damage by toppling trees and breaking power poles. As of Saturday night, nearly 121,000 customers remained without power. Among the hardest-hit areas was Lakewood, home to a large Orthodox Jewish community, where thousands endured the Sabbath without electricity amid temperatures around 38 degrees Celsius. Utility crews worked tirelessly to restore power throughout the weekend.

Chris Winnig, spokesperson for the local electric company, described the storm line as passing through nearly the entire service area, with very few unaffected zones. He noted extensive damage including fallen trees and broken poles. More than 1,700 workers operated in 16-hour shifts, supplemented by additional crews from outside the region. Overnight efforts restored power to approximately 50,000 customers, but no full restoration timeline has been provided.

The most severely impacted counties included Morris, with over 51,000 outages, and Monmouth, where more than 39,000 customers remained powerless. Significant outages also affected Essex, Middlesex, and Union counties. The storms disrupted transportation as well, with New Jersey Transit suspending service on parts of Morris and Essex lines and the North Jersey Coast Line after over 50 trees fell on tracks. Numerous roads across the state were closed due to downed trees and power lines. In Medford, lightning struck a public building’s roof, igniting a fire that required nine fire departments to extinguish. No injuries were reported.