High wind blamed for two deaths in New Jersey as branches, power lines fall around Northeast

<br>Blustering wind blew down tree branches and tore down power lines across the Northeast, and two people were killed in New Jersey by falling debris. <br><br>The National Weather Service said wind gusts

Thursday, September 12th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Blustering wind blew down tree branches and tore down power lines across the Northeast, and two people were killed in New Jersey by falling debris.

The National Weather Service said wind gusts of more than 55 mph were reported in some places Wednesday as the region was caught between a high pressure system to the west and Hurricane Gustav to the east.

In Connecticut, authorities said about 120,000 customers had lost power at one point. As of 8 a.m. Thursday, about 58,000 Connecticut Light & Power customers were without power, a utility spokesman said. New Jersey also reported scattered power outages.

In West Amwell, N.J., a woman was killed by a falling tree branch as she stood in the parking lot of a flea market, authorities said. High wind also knocked down a 10-foot steel and cinderblock wall at a shopping center in West Windsor, killing a construction worker.

Police Lt. John Parizeau said 13 high school students were injured in Westfield, N.J., when the wind snapped a rotted limb from an oak tree where they were eating lunch at picnic tables. The limb weighed more than 1,000 pounds, according to Michael Tomaio, one of the workers hired to tear down the tree after the accident.

A 14-year-old girl, was hospitalized with head injuries; the others had cuts and scratches, police said.

In New York City, gusts threw up dust at ground zero and blew a piece of plywood off the AOL Time Warner Center under construction, critically injuring a construction worker. Two passers-by suffered minor injuries.