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CBS News
04-07-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Plainfield, New Jersey storms blamed for at least 2 deaths, city confirms
At least two people were killed when severe thunderstorms swept through Plainfield, New Jersey on Thursday night, city officials confirm. Plainfield officials say two men, ages 25 and 79, were killed when a tree fell onto a car they were in. Their names have not been released. The fast-moving storms brought down trees and power lines, and several towns have reported heavy damage. Plainfield, N.J. under state of emergency Severe thunderstorms swept through New Jersey on Thursday night, and Gov. Phil Murphy says multiple people were killed. CBS News New York Plainfield was one of the hardest hit areas, where the mayor has declared a state of emergency and canceled all Fourth of July festivities as the community focuses on cleaning up and rebuilding. Several trees are down along Putnam and Hillside avenues, including one that partially hit a home. Many of the toppled trees pulled down power lines and left as many as 8,000 customers without electricity. Severe thunderstorms swept through New Jersey on Thursday night, and Gov. Phil Murphy says multiple people were killed. CBS News New York Roads are blocked off by the debris, and police have been making sure drivers avoid the fallen power lines that are hanging low into the street. "When I got home, I didn't think it was going to be this bad," one resident said Friday morning. "Plainfield's strong, we're going to recover, we're going to help each other recover from this." "We were out here last night cutting down the tree and getting tree limbs out of the road, so that, hopefully, first responders could come fast. They see the road is clear, maybe they'll come and do the repairs soon," another resident added. New Jersey facing thousands of power outages Earlier Thursday, Edison and Metuchen saw similar scenes in Middlesex County. Huge trees snapped and littered the streets with branches. Crews are working to restore power to people stuck in the dark and without air conditioning, PSE&G says it's hoping to have customers back online by 10 p.m. Friday. Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Murphy has said he's in close touch with local mayors and emergency responders to provide support.
CBS News
01-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
NJ Transit 3% fare hike takes effect. Here's where the agency's CEO says the money is going.
If you use NJ Transit, you probably noticed you are paying a bit more on your train and bus tickets. That's because fares went up by 3% on Tuesday, an increase that follows last year's 15% hike, which was the first of any kind in a decade. NJ Transit CEO addresses the state of the agency On Tuesday, CBS News New York's Christine Sloan asked NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri about delays and cancellations that have plagued the system. "What is happening now is that these massive weather systems, these massive thunderstorms that are going through, happen in such a burst," Kolluri said. Kolluri added the system is antiquated and Amtrak's responsibility because that agency owns the lines. He said the cost to upgrade is in the billions of dollars. Kolluri said the 3% fare increase will go toward NJ Transit's budget. "Pays for Access Link, which has gone up by $40 million this year, and new bus service and replacing private carriers that no longer provide bus service ... that has gone up by $20 million," Kolluri said. Here's what state and federal funding is paying for As for the more than $760 million earmarked for NJ Transit in the state budget just signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, Kolluri said that money will go toward COVID-era loss. "The corporate transit fee the Legislature and the governor are now giving us is merely replacing the money we used to get from the federal government until this year," he said. However, Kolluri says federal money will pay for other upgrades. "That's why the governor and I said before the end of this year we will order all the trains and buses necessary to modernize the system," Kolluri said. Kolluri said the fear was the agency would get less funding under the Trump administration, but added NJ Transit is getting exactly what it wants. "Everything is going up except our salaries" Despite what the CEO says, NJ Transit riders are forking out more on train and bus tickets and some are not happy about it. "No, it's too much! They just went up on the fare," Newark resident Gail Goodson said. "How often do they go up? Everything is going up except our salaries," Newark resident Geraldine Cooley said. "I think it's fine as long as they put the money to upgrading the trains and some Wi-Fi," commuter Aaron Schlam said.
