Powerful overnight storms left major destruction across parts of New Jersey, and one of the most striking scenes was in Plainfield, where a large tree was uprooted and came crashing down onto an Amazon delivery truck. According to Eyewitness News, the falling tree nearly split the truck in two, and crews spent Saturday morning working to clear the wreckage from the street.
The cleanup snarled part of the city. Hillside Avenue between Putnam and Watchung remained closed as work continued, with crews on the scene since early in the morning. As the hours passed, they were able to successfully remove the tree from the top of the Amazon truck, though officials made clear there was still much more work left to be done.
Up close, the damage told the story of the storm's power. The sidewalk near the scene was buckled and the tree had been completely uprooted, its roots torn from the ground. Shattered glass was scattered across the area where the tree struck the vehicle, and downed power lines could still be seen lying on the ground, complicating the effort to reopen the road.
It had all unfolded less than 24 hours earlier. During heavy rains the day before, the storm knocked the tree down onto the Amazon truck on Hillside Avenue in Plainfield. The sheer force of the collapse nearly split the truck in two, leaving the delivery vehicle mangled and trapped beneath the weight of the fallen tree.
The most harrowing part came in the moments right after the tree fell. Eyewitnesses say the driver was out making a delivery when the tree toppled, but his co-worker was still inside the vehicle at the time. With the worker trapped in the crushed truck, a good Samaritan sprang into action and used a kitchen knife to break the Amazon worker free from the wreckage.
Despite the frightening scene, the outcome was a relief. The company says the worker who had been inside the truck is okay. As of Saturday morning, crews were still working to remove the rest of the tree from the road and deal with the downed power lines, part of a broader cleanup as sections of the tri-state area recovered from the powerful storms.