Two women died in New Jersey when their car was swept away in flash flooding overnight — just 11 days after three others were killed in extreme weather in the same area.
The women, who haven’t yet been identified publicly, were found dead in Plainfield after torrential rain and surging floodwaters battered the tri-state area late Monday.
Their vehicle was swept into Cedar Brook during the height of the storm and first responders were unable to save them, authorities said.
“It was so flooded it was like a river going through, and I’ve never seen anything like this before,” one local, Theresa Lee, told WABC of the flooded brook.
The tragedy unfolded just 11 days after three people were killed by falling trees as violent storms ripped through central New Jersey on July 3. Two of those, ages 25 and 79, were from Plainfield, while the third was from neighboring North Plainfield.
“All of Plainfield grieves this latest loss,” Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said Monday.
“To lose four residents in such a short span of time is unimaginable,” Mapp said of the Plainfield deaths. “We mourn with the families, and we remain committed to doing all we can to strengthen our emergency response systems and protect our residents from future harm.”
In North Plainfield, a family narrowly escaped when their home caught fire and exploded as the heavy downpours lashed the area.
The family of four had already fled their home on Parkview Avenue due to flash flood warnings before the blast just before 11:30 p.m.
Remnants of the destroyed home could be seen strewn across the street late Monday as flood waters engulfed the roadway.
It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the explosion but complaints of gas were reported around the neighborhood at the time.
Earlier, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy had declared a state of emergency due to the extreme weather and advised locals to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel.
“We’re not unique, but we’re in one of these sort of high humidity, high temperature, high storm intensity patterns right now,” Murphy said as he toured a storm ravaged area in Berkeley Heights.
“Everybody needs to stay alert.”
Most flash flood watches and warnings had expired in parts of the Garden State as the rain moved on overnight, but some roads and streets were still flooded as of early Tuesday.
Some roads remained closed in sections of New Jersey and dozens of flights were delayed or canceled at area airports Tuesday — including 159 cancellations at Newark Liberty Airport, FlightAware data showed.
With Post wires