A fast-moving storm raged through parts of New Jersey — including Maplewood and South Orange — on Friday evening, July 3, causing power outages, property damage and hazardous driving conditions with trees and large branches down.
See PSE&G’s outage map here: https://outagecenter.pseg.com
“I have lost track of how many calls as of this time,” South Essex Fire Chief Joseph Alvarez told Village Green at 9:20 p.m. on Friday.
Update: As of 9:46 a.m. on July 4, Alvarez reported that the SEFD responded to 44 calls on Friday night across both towns. Crews responded to trees into houses and on cars, poles down with wires burning, and two lightning strikes.
The damage appeared to be more severe in South Orange than Maplewood, with trees reported down in the historic Montrose neighborhood and the PSE&G outage map showing a higher number of outages throughout the Village.
Being an elected official provided no refuge: South Orange Village Councilwoman Hannah Zollman suffered the loss of a car, a fence and a pergola. A second family car is trapped in the garage due to the downed tree bending the garage door. Zollman has canceled her 4th of July plans, but said, “We are physically safe. Thank goodness for insurance.”
Zollman shared video of the tree falling on her car and backyard:
From Hannah Zollman:
The storm was followed by a fiery sunset and a stunning double rainbow:
Photo by Jay Marcus Daniels, via SOMa Lounge/Facebook.
Maplewood, NJ. July 3, 2026. Photo by Susanna Mann.
South Orange, NJ. July 3, 2026. Photo by Laura Griffin.
With reporting by Laura Griffin and Susanna Mann. This story was first published at 10:08 p.m. on July 3, and updated at 10 a.m. on July 4.
