Photo: A Newark woman was killed by this tree branch/Steve Sandberg
Posted: Thursday, 12 February 2009 9:43PM
High Winds Responsible for Three Deaths, Outages and Delays
TRENTON, N.J. (AP/1010 WINS) -- High winds are wreaking havoc throughout the Tri-Stare area -- a woman was killed after a tree fell on her car in Union County, a construction worker was killed on Staten Island after winds caused a wall to collapse, and another woman was killed by a falling tree branch in Newark.
Newark police say, 61-year-old Norka Collazo, was walking from a supermarket near Mount Prospect and 2nd Avenue when she was struck by a large tree branch.
She suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene.
Mountainside Police Capt. Richard Osieja says, Maureen Carse was driving to work when a tree snapped, crashed through her car's windshield and impaled the 61-year-old.
She was pronounced dead on Route 22.
On Staten Island, a concrete wall collapsed killing a 59-year-old construction worker.
Steve Sandberg reports from Staten Island
Police responded to the construction site at 8:16 a.m. Thursday and found the man, who has not yet been identified, unresponsive under the debris.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
City buildings officials said high winds contributed to the collapse. But they are also investigating whether the wall was properly built.
The worker was laying metal tracks to build another floor on a two-story building when the wall collapsed.
The death was one of 15 incidents at city construction sites where debris blew off buildings, the Buildings Department said. The department told contractors this week to suspend crane and hoist operations if winds exceeded 35 mph.
Mona Rivera reports from Brooklyn
The wind also sent a man to the hospital in Brooklyn. Manny Santiago was walking on Avenue H when a wind gust sent tree branches toppling right on top of him. He was taken to taken to Kings County Hospital.
A high wind warning remains in effect until 11 p.m. across the Tri-State and Accuweather says wind gusts up to 60 mph could whip through the area this evening. With wind gusts up to 55 mph already reported, the weather also was causing havoc at the region's major airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported delays of about 3 hours at New York's LaGuardia Airport and 3 1/2 hours at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
Wind restrictions have been placed on several New York City bridges. Large vehicles, such as vans and tractor-trailers, are barred from the Throgs Neck Bridge because of the winds. Cars and trucks are being advised to drive at lower speeds on the Bronx-Whitestone and Verrazano Bridges.
Even going out for lunch was a chore.
Pedestrians in midtown Manhattan braced themselves against poles and traffic lights while waiting to cross the street. With gusts kicking up gravel and sand at construction sites, walking down the sidewalk became perilous to some.
"I got more sand in my eyes than a beach and I almost got blown over backwards,'' said electrician Michael Lazzaro, who ducked into a neighborhood bar on his way home from work.
On Long Island, high winds blew a crossing gate into a passing Long Island Rail Road train, sending four people to the hospital for injuries from shattered glass, the LIRR said.
Elsewhere on Long Island, a signal pole was blown onto the tracks, causing train and traffic delays. North of the city, Metro-North Railroad reported delays on its New Haven line between Grand Central Terminal and Stamford, Conn., because sheet metal blew onto the overhead wires that power the trains.
Mona Rivera reports from Long Island
Power outages affected nearly 4,100 customers on Long Island and 900 in Westchester County and New York City.
The National Weather Service measured wind gusts of 48 mph in Central Park on Thursday afternoon; 55 mph at Kennedy International Airport and 54 mph at LaGuardia.
Sustained winds were in the range of 30 mph to 40 mph, with potential gusts of up to 60 mph. The winds were expected to ease Thursday evening.
Near the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan, powerful gusts of wind knocked over two coin-operated newspaper racks and two heavy metal trashcans at one intersection. Trash swirled down the street.
Willard Cudjoe, a construction worker who is 6-foot-6 and weighs 250 pounds, marveled at the wind strength while on a lunch break at a local deli.
Had he not braced himself against the sides of buildings as he walked down the sidewalk, "The wind would have taken me off my feet,'' he said.
In New Jersey, wind gusts are blamed for knocking out electricity to more than 35,000 customers.
The National Weather Service says gusts are ranging from around 40 mph to 50 mph. The strongest winds were reported in Morristown, where gusts reached up to 55 mph.
Jersey Central Power & Light says about 26,000 customers are without service, mainly because the winds have snapped trees that downed power lines. Public Service Electric & Gas says about 8,000 customers don't have electricity, while about 1,500 Atlantic City Electric customers are dealing with outages.
Inset Photos: Police corner off a section of sidewalk in Newark where a woman was struck and killed by a falling tree branch (top), Rescuers at scene of S.I. wall collapse, by Steve Sandberg
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She suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene.
With wind gusts up to 55 mph already reported, the weather also was causing havoc at the region's major airports.
