Severe weather knocks out power across Burlington County

EDGEWATER PARK, N.J. (WPVI) -- Powerful winds and flooding downpours wreaked havoc on Monday night bringing down large trees and knocking out power across the Delaware Valley.

If residents in Burlington County weren't inconvenienced by the power outage at home, they certainly felt it on the roads. Several traffic light weren't working by Tuesday morning.

Crews set up cones along the median at Route 130 and Charleston Road forcing drivers to go as far as a mile just to make a left turn.

According to PSE&G, Burlington County was hit the hardest in terms of outages.

A two-three mile stretch of Route 130 was out of power which meant businesses couldn't open. An employer at a Citgo gas station could be seen turning customers away during what's normally its peak hours.

A daycare had to close for the day leaving parents scrambling to find alternative child care or call off of work last minute.

"I came to drop off my baby. I gotta go to work. I gotta be there at 7 but all the power is out so it's probably going to be a call out day," said Tyeisha Welch of Willingboro.

Some loyal customers still stopped by Golden Dawn diner and had their morning coffee in the dark.

"This is my hangout. I come out here to have coffee with the owner and we talk," said Charles Gant of Edgewater Park.

It's better than an empty diner, but nothing compared to the normally bustling morning rush.

"I would say 80-100 around this time," said Costas Yiatiou, owner of the Golden Dawn Diner.

But one car wash couldn't open even if the power came back on right now. It's roof was torn off by straight line winds as seen in this viewer video. Sixty mile per hourwinds sent debris flying across the busy roadway. Then water seeped inside creating a soggy mess. The business owner's son says they'll be closed for several days.

"It's pretty bad. The new part of the roof is there. But the old part is all going basically," Jaskarn Saini of Edgewater Park said.