Severe storms bring damaging winds, knocks out power for thousands

PHILADELPHIA - Heavy rains inundated parts of the area and high winds downed trees Monday night. Thousands are without power as residents clean up the damage.

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"Storms rolled in. It sounded like a train going through a parking lot," Susan Crowley told FOX 29.

It was lights out at Valley View shopping center in Aston, Pa. The Planet Fitness was forced to close for the night, but Gatsby’s Bar and Grill chose to stay open and improvise.

"We lit candles, battery-operated candles," Crowley explained to FOX 29's Jennifer Joyce.

 “I didn’t think this was that much. I was sitting there and I didn’t realize all the trees went down,” Jim Kollasch said. Neighborhoods in Mount Laurel are in the dark.

“The tree fell over the line down there and the pole was three-quarters of the way over the road,” he explained.  Kollasch lives near Phillips and Ark Road where a tree came down on power lines. 

Crews were forced to close intersections as they worked to cleanup and make sure the streets were safe. Gloucester Township police urged drivers to use caution while driving in the area.

PECO reports nearly 45,000 people are without power, PSE&G reports more than 70,000, AC Electric reports over 2,000 and Delmarva says close to 3,000 people are in the dark. A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for the region from 8 a.m. Monday through Tuesday morning.