Powerful storm leaves 130K in the dark: This week in Central Jersey history, Sept. 4-10

A fierce storm ripped through Central Jersey on Monday, Sept. 7, 1998, leaving more than 130,000 people without electricity.

Two people in South Bound Brook who were struck by lightning were injured. The storm struck about 2 p.m., causing driving rain and winds as high as 100 mph for 15 to 20 minutes.

Here's a look at events that happened in Central Jersey from five, 10, 25, 50 and 100 years ago this week.

Five years ago

Sept. 5, 2018: Hunterdon County Sheriff Fred Brown went to Washington, D.C., to ask Congress to act on pending legislation to increase border security.

Sept. 6: It was reported the Somerset County YMCA started construction on Friday, Aug. 31, 2018, on a $7 million, two-story, 14,000-square-foot expansion at the Mt. Airy Road site in Bernards.

Sept. 7: In Superior Court in New Brunswick, Hakim Nelson, 32, of Piscataway, was sentenced to 18 years in state prison for stealing the identities of two people and pocketing more than $25,000 for his personal use.

Sept. 7: The USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the Asian Longhorned tick was discovered in Somerset County, making it the seventh county in New Jersey where the tick had been found.

Sept. 7: In high school football, South Brunswick beat Old Bridge, 28-0.

Sept. 8: It was reported the North Brunswick Township High School had closed indefinitely days after children returned to school and following an environmental company's recommendation that the building not be re-occupied because of surface mold.

Sept. 10: Ozzy Osbourne and Stone Sour performed in No More Tours 2 at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel.

10 years ago

Sept. 4, 2013: Kenneth Christensen, 44, of Edison, who formerly worked as a Metuchen school crossing guard, pleaded guilty to taking compromising photographs of a naked child and distributing them along with hundreds of other photographs of child sexual abuse over the Internet.

Sept. 5: It was reported a Somerset County grand jury indicted Jason Prontnicki, 41, of Monroe, the live-in boyfriend of Judge Carlia M. Brady, 41, a state Superior Court judge in Middlesex County, on a charge of first-degree robbery in the Monday, April 29, 2013, drug heist at Woods Pharmacy in Old Bridge.

Sept. 6: In girls soccer, junior Jenna Taylor scored the game-winner on a 28-yard direct kick with 2:18 left in regulation, as Hunterdon Central beat defending state Group IV champion Montgomery, 3-2, on opening day.

Sept. 7: Love New Brunswick Weekend, the Don Giovanni Records Day featuring Screaming Females, California X, Black Wine and Brick Mower, hosted by Chris Gethard, was held at Boyd Park in New Brunswick.

Sept. 10: Rahway Mayor Rick Proctor resigned in a one-sentence letter of resignation, effective 4:30 p.m., to City Clerk Jeffrey Jotz.

Sept. 10: It was reported that just about seven weeks short of the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy and almost four months since Gov. Chris Christie promised buyouts to Sayreville residents whose homes were destroyed by the storm, some preliminary buyout offers had been made.

1998

Sept. 4, 1998: Rahway native Jeffrey L. Armour was one of 12 men killed when two Air Force helicopters collided during a training mission in the Nevada desert.

Sept. 5: In college football, Rutgers beat Division I-AA Richmond, 7-6, before a crowd of 24,523 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway.

Sept. 9: A house fire killed Marilyn Evans, 75, of Piscataway. The blaze appeared to have been started when a cigarette or lighter ignited clothing or bedding, said Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Ralph Cretella.

Sept. 10: It was reported Aerosmith would perform on Friday, Sept. 11, 1998, at Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Centre in Camden.

Sept. 10: A woman whose decomposing body was found wrapped in carpet and plastic that week in the Ocean Grove section of Neptune was identified as Terese A. Roche, 39, of Hillsborough.

1973

Sept. 4, 1973: James Purick, 40, of Scotch Plains, who owned and operated Family Tree Service, was found shot to death in the second-story bedroom of his home. Police had no suspects in the slaying.

Sept. 5: Julie Nixon Eisenhower paid an unannounced visit to the Kienast quintuplets at their home in Bernards. She and the 3-year-olds filmed a public service commercial for the National Institute for the Prevention of Blindness.

Sept. 5: In golf, Barbara Wiegand shot net 73 to win the Pro-Tournament in the 18-hole final at Raritan Valley Country Club in Somerville.

Sept. 8: The Circle Players in Piscataway presented Lucille Fletcher's "Night Watch."

Sept. 9: Two police officers were injured when about 70 youths damaged the Strand Theater in Plainfield following the final showing of a film featuring Oriental practices of self defense.

1923

Sept. 5, 1923: Plainfield and North Plainfield schools opened for the fall semester. Enrollment in the Plainfield schools was slightly less than that of the previous year. The enrollment in North Plainfield schools increased approximately 150, to a total of about 1,150.

Sept. 6: Three people were killed and others were injured in an explosion of two cars of smokeless powder at the Pennsylvania Railroad yards in South Amboy. Two more died in the hospital that night.

Sept. 6-8: The Paramount Picture, "The Cheat," starring Pola Negri and Jack Holt, was shown at Reade's Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.

Sept. 8: At the annual banquet of the National Council of Traveling Salesmen in Atlantic City, Gov. George Sebastian Silzer gave a scathing attack upon the Ku Klux Klan.

Sept. 9: Home runs by Earl Williams and "Polly" Snyder featured Ball-Kirch's 8-3 baseball victory in Linden.

Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ history, Sept. 4-10