High winds overnight across New Jersey left extensive damage in its path, including in Scotch Plains, where a large tree came crashed down through a house and cut it in half.

The tree left extensive damage to the home on Portland Avenue. Two trees fell, with one of them going straight through the house.  

A neighbor tells News 12 the homeowner is 75 years old and uses an oxygen machine. He was apparently relaxing when the storm hit. 

“He was watching TV, and a tree came both ways, 8 inches above his head,” says Denise Calcaterra.

Calcaterra says her neighbor crawled his way to safety and was eventually pulled from the home by a firefighter.  

“I heard a bang, and it was that tree had come down,” says Richard Diamond. “It was pretty intense.”

Another large tree came down over on Montrose Avenue just off Westfield Avenue, across the street from Scotch Plains Fanwood High School.

The streetlight connected to the utility pool was snapped. A vehicle on the other side of the driveway was also hit by the tree, but it appears the house suffered only minimal damage.  

“We had a really good little mini burst, if you will, it came through right in this area because the rest of the borough seems to be OK at this point,” says Fanwood Public Works Director Clint Dickson.