(NEW JERSEY) — New Jersey Transit train engineers have officially commenced their strike, shutting down commuter trains and leaving hundreds of thousands of commuters scrambling to find other modes of transportation.
Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union had been threatening to go on strike unless NJ Transit officials and the union were able to agree on new contract terms and conditions for the workers who drive the trains.
A deal was close but not reached, according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, resulting in all New Jersey Transit commuter trains and the MTA Metro-North West of Hudson service to stop running when the strike began at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.
Tom Haas, the general chairman for BLET, told ABC News on Friday that “it felt like” they were close to reaching a deal, but the two were “still several dollars apart and New Jersey Transit was unable to bridge that gap.”
“We are ready, willing and able t d at an earlier news conference.
Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said 17 specialized search teams, each consisting of four to five trained personnel and a police officer, are currently conducting door-to-door sweeps throughout the impact zone.
A curfew for the affected areas is now in effect until 6 a.m. local time to keep residents safe and prevent looting, according to the mayor. She urged residents to stay off the roads to give emergency crews unimpeded access to damaged areas and also asked people to limit cell phone use due to connectivity issues.
The storm struck just after 3 p.m., with high winds battering the city and the first calls coming in within minutes.
Officials say the tornado touched down in Clayton, skipped into Richmond Heights, clipped Forest Park and continued east across the Mississippi River into Illinois.
“We did an aerial reconnaissance and used AI-based tools to map the path,” the fire chief said. “There’s no doubt—this was a very destructive storm.”
In Scott County, Missouri, about 135 miles south of St. Louis, two people were killed and others injured after powerful storms swept through area late Friday, according to local emergency officials.
Scott County Rural Fire Protection Chief Jeremy Perrien confirmed the fatalities in a phone interview with ABC News. “We had two different areas of the county that got hit pretty hard,” he said. “Two different areas suffered a fatality, and we had several injuries as well.”
Perrien said at least three people were injured and multiple homes were destroyed during the storms.
After the storms slammed Missouri, the storms spread east Friday into Illinois and Kentucky, bringing the risk of a severe weather outbreak through the night.
A tornado watch covers Indianapolis; Louisville, Kentucky; and Carbondale, Illinois, among other cities through 10 p.m. Central Time.
Storms were expected to reach Indianapolis around 7 p.m.
The storms were then expected to hit Cincinnati; Louisville, Kentucky; and Jonesboro, Arkansas, at 8 p.m. CT before hitting Memphis, Tennessee, at 9 p.m. They were expected to reach Nashville, Tennessee, from 10 to 11 p.m.
Several tornadoes were possible, including some high-end, long-track twisters. There is also a risk of huge hail — up to 2.5 inches — and widespread damaging wind gusts up to 80 mph.
In addition, strong storms pounded parts of the Mid-Atlantic, including in the Washington, D.C., area, with some storms bringing powerful gusts up to 80 mph in some cases.
Two people died in Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., after trees fell onto their vehicles, according to authorities.
One of the people was driving on the George Washington Memorial Parkway when a tree hit their vehicle, according to U.S. Park Police. In suburban Fairfax County, a woman was killed when a tree fell on the car she was driving, police said.
Overall, 90 million people are at risk for severe weather.
More than 400,000 customers are without power on Friday afternoon, including over 200,000 in Michigan and 100,000 in Missouri, with severe weather moving through the Midwest. There was a moderate risk — level 4 of 5 — for significantly severe storms Friday, from southeast Missouri through southern Illinois, western and central Kentucky and southern Indiana.
Saturday’s risk area is mainly centered over Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, where damaging wind, large hail and a few tornadoes are possible. These storms are expected in the evening and overnight hours.
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