by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com Published 9:22pm Hover over Photos to see Locations and Photo Credit Click on Photo to Enlarge ![]() WEST ESSEX, NJ - Late Tuesday afternoon, West Essex was slammed with a storm so strong that many have questioned if we had a tornado come through the area. While some areas of New York did see tornados touch down, West Essex experienced a brief, but incredibly powerful, Squall with Whole Gale, Category 10, 66mph Winds, which was followed up by equally damaging Thunderstorms. The violently intense onset was reported by NOAA's Fairfield Weather Station as a Squall - which they define as a "sudden violent gust of wind or a localized storm" - and it began in West Essex at 4:44pm, followed by Thunderstorms which continued until 6:01pm. In this very short period of time, the Winds, Lightning, and Rain caused a huge amount of damage around the West Essex area. What follows is a timeline of incidents chronicled as they were reported (not as they occured) to which Police, Fire and DPW crews responded and worked tirelessly to clean up for days: Tuesday, May 15 4:44pm
4:46pm
4:49pm
4:50pm
4:51pm
4:55pm
5pm
5:02pm
5:04pm
5:11pm
5:14pm
5:16pm
5:18pm
5:24pm
![]() 5:27pm
5:31pm
5:32pm
5:33pm
5:35pm
5:36pm
5:37pm
5:39pm
5:41pm
5:42pm
5:44pm
Police begin welfare checks of residences, including homes where children are on their own. 5:45pm
5:48pm
5:51pm
5:52pm
5:55pm
![]() 5:59pm Roseland: Eagle Rock Avenue, Methodist Church
6:04pm
6:08pm
6:12pm
6:14pm
6:16pm
6:20pm
6:22pm
6:25pm
6:26pm
![]() 6:29pm
6:30pm
6:39pm
6:41pm
7:02pm
7:06pm
7:23pm
7:31pm
7:55pm
8:04pm
8:12pm
8:18pm
By the end of the Storm, over 90 streets which included hundreds of residents, were without power:
by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com Published 6:15pm CALDWELL, NJ - At 8:50am Saturday morning, Caldwell Police were called to the area of 490 Bloomfield Avenue for reports of a serious two-car accident. The Caldwell Fire Department and West Essex First Aid Squad soon also responded for three persons, two of whom were entrapped.
Due to the severity of injury, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office was alerted to investigate the accident. No information from police has been released at this time.
Published 6:10am UPDATED: 6pm Wednesday CALDWELL, NJ - Monday night at 11:51pm, Caldwell Police, the West Essex First Aid Squad, and the Caldwell Fire Department responded to the scene of a car crash at Mountain Avenue near Hatfield Street in Caldwell. First Responders encountered an overturned vehicle with entrapment and two individuals were taken to the hospital while one other individual died at the scene. The Essex County Prosecutor's Office also responded at the time of the incident. According to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray and Caldwell Police Chief James H. Bongiorno, a driver and two passengers were traveling southbound on Mountain Avenue in a 2015 Ford Mustang when they crashed into a telephone pole and a tree at about 11:30pm. The front seat passenger, Theo Walsh, 23, of East Orange was pronounced dead at the scene. A North Caldwell Police Patrol Officer first noticed the high rate of speed the car was traveling at and while they were calling the information into dispatchers they then heard the crash and reported it immediately. At 3am Tuesday morning, the Fire Department returned to the scene to provide lighting for the investigation which continued until 8:30am; Mountain Avenue remained closed between Elm Road and Forest Avenue. The driver, Devon Smith, 22, of Newark, was taken to University Hospital where on Tuesday he succumbed to the injuries he sustained in the crash. Smith was in his third year at Kean University. The backseat passenger, 18, a college student also of Newark, sustained serious injuries and remains hospitalized in critical condition. Their name is not being released at this time. The crash which is being investigated by the Caldwell Police Department and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force.
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