The storm system is seen on a NOAA satellite image. (AP)
A storm system brought gusty wind and heavy rain to the northeast this morning, making for a messy New York City commute and causing travel delays across the region.
A five-story scaffold fell about 1:30 a.m. in Bensonhurst. No injuries were reported from the incident.
The structure broke away from a four-story building in that is under construction and fell onto electrical wires. It also damaged an SUV that was parked across the street.
The Federal Aviation Administration says some flights arriving at La Guardia Airport on Friday morning were delayed an average of nearly three hours each. By midday delays, were down to 30 minutes. Flights heading to John F. Kennedy International Airport were not permitted to take off until after 7:15 a.m. due to high winds, but were leaving on time by midday. Wind gusts are delaying flights arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport by more than two hours.
NJ Transit’s trains are back on schedule after experiencing delays. RiverLine service out of Camden is facing delays due to flooding.
The Long Island Rail Road also halted service on one of its 10 branches because of a fallen tree.
Also Friday, the LIRR said commuters on the Oyster Bay branch were being provided with bus service to Mineola.
A spokeswoman says a tree fell on tracks and also hit a power line near the Locust Valley station. The spokeswoman says service was expected to be back to normal for the evening commute.
There also were scattered reports of roadway flooding in various communities.
The storm also flooded roadways in New Jersey, forcing officials to close lanes on I-287 southbound in Harding Township, Morris County, as well as NJ 35 northbound in Old Bridge Township, Middlesex County. Toms River police tell radio station WOBM there was flooding in the Silverton and Green Island sections of the township.
The wind has snapped trees and power lines. PSE&G is reporting about 12,000 homes and businesses without electricity, mostly in Essex County.
Jersey Central Power & Light is reporting 15,872 customers without service, mainly in Monmouth County.
Atlantic City Electric is working to restore service to 4,887 customers.
LIPA reported 6,600 customers without power as of 11 a.m. Friday. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the utility had more than 1 million customers lose power.
The National Weather Service has also issued storm warnings starting Friday and lasting until later Saturday afternoon for an area stretching from New York’s southwest corner to the Rochester area. Friday’s rainfall will give way to snow storms that will dump between 2 inches and more than a foot in some areas in the Buffalo-Niagara region, depending on elevation and proximity to the Lake Erie shoreline.
Blowing snow could be a problem in some western areas as winds hit 20 mph to 30 mph.
Several inches of snow is expected to fall in parts of central New York and the Adirondacks.
The same storm system dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of the midwest.
With Post Staff