Storm Topples 1 Large Tree onto New Jersey Home, Shifting Entire House

Q: How did a quiet family movie night turn into a narrow escape from a massive, tornado-spawning weather system?

A routine movie night became a narrow escape because a fast-moving severe storm system intensified over New Jersey, producing destructive winds, downed trees, flash flooding and multiple confirmed tornadoes. In Midland Park, the family was in their family room when they heard a loud boom, saw a large tree starting to fall, and ran for safety just moments before it crashed onto their house. The homeowner said the impact was powerful enough to shake the house and even move the ground. That detail matches the broader storm damage reported across the region, where strong winds snapped and uprooted trees and brought down wires in a matter of minutes. Midland Park was not an isolated case but part of a wider outbreak that quickly turned dangerous. National Weather Service surveys later confirmed four tornadoes in New Jersey from the same weather system, including three EF-1 tornadoes in North Jersey and an EF-0 tornado in Cape May Point that came ashore as a waterspout. The strongest surveyed tornado, in Lower Berkshire Valley, had estimated winds of 100 to 110 mph. Other communities dealt with flooded roads, stranded drivers, emergency rescues and transit and airport disruptions. So the family’s quiet evening changed in seconds because they were directly in the path of a volatile storm complex capable of producing tornadoes and severe straight-line winds. Their survival came down to hearing the warning signs, reacting immediately and getting out of the room before the tree hit.

3 articles · Updated · WABC-TV · Jul 29

A large tree crashed onto a home in Midland Park, New Jersey, during Tuesday's storm, jolting the structure so hard the homeowner said the entire house moved.
The family had been watching a movie in their family room when they heard a boom, looked outside, and ran out before hearing the tree hit.
The homeowner described the impact as so forceful that it "literally moved the ground," underscoring the storm's immediate danger to residents inside.