Tree Falls On Home In Matawan; Trees Down Statewide

MATAWAN, NJ — Be careful out there! And in your homes! The heavy, wet snow is starting to bring down trees all across the state, including this dramatic incident on Freneau Avenue in Matawan.

Matawan resident Sarah Marino told Patch reporter Karen Wall she was sitting in her sunroom this afternoon working as the snow fell. She heard the thundersnow rumbles, but then heard a crack that she soon realized wasn't thunder.

"I got up and ran," she said, as a tree came down within inches of the window of her sunroom. You can see how it landed on her deck, but nearly landed in the room where she had been sitting.

She said the tree was rotted at its base, so she wasn't certain it had been struck by lightning, or just brought down by heavy snow. But she was sure of one thing.

"Another foot and I would have been mushed," she said. "I got lucky."

And something similar happened on Wesleyan Street in Red Bank this afternoon, in this photo supplied by a Middletown EMT. Incredibly, there were no injuries in that incident, either:

The heavy snow is starting to bring down trees and power lines all over the state. In Holmdel, Holmdel Road and Hillcrest Road are both closed due to downed telephone poles and wires. In Manchester Twp., a teacher helping students get on the bus was struck by lightning in the thundersnow. The eighth-grade teacher was standing outside Manchester Township Middle School at about 2:30 p.m. when the umbrella she was holding was struck. Get more details from the Manchester Patch: Manchester Teacher Struck By Lightning Amid Thundersnow: Police

Photos used with permission by Sarah Marino.