NJ family narrowly survives devastating home explosion after evacuating because of floods
By Reuven Fenton and Chris Nesi
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NORTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. — One disaster averted an even bigger one for this New Jersey family.
Lina Delgado-Ramos, her husband, sister, cousin and their golden retriever fled their North Plainfield home to escape Monday night’s deadly flash floods — only for the house to explode spectacularly just hours later.
“The storm saved our lives. We could have been inside, thinking that we are safe, and then — boom,” she told The Post Tuesday.
A house in South Plainfield, N.J. exploded during the storm last night.
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But not everyone was so lucky. Two women died a town over in Plainfield when their car was swept away in the deluge that battered the tri-state area late Monday.
NJ Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency as some towns like Mountainside in Union County saw more than 5.34 inches of rain, and the National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings across the state.
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NJ house demolished in explosion — but family narrowly escapes because of flash flood evacuations
Flash flood warnings were declared all across the tri-state area.
Flash flooding across tri-state area prompts road closures, subway delays in NYC, state of emergency in NJ
Newark Liberty International Airport saw a ground stop until 8 p.m. and experienced multiple delays and cancelations, and startling videos making the rounds online showed sections of the New Jersey Turnpike completely submerged.
Delgado-Ramos, 36, said that when a flash flood warning hit, she packed up her family and got them to higher ground around 6 p.m. She said she had visions of the horrific Texas floods in her mind at the end.
“So we were all trying to save our cars and get them to higher ground. As we drove we got to higher ground and waited for the storm to pass,” she said.
Debris seen at the house the day after the explosion.
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They sought refuge on one of the hills in Green Brook Township in the Garden State, around three miles from their North Plainfield neighborhood.
She believes they were the only ones on their block to leave.
Around 9 p.m. they decided to head back to the house, but couldn’t get close in their cars because there was so much water in the streets. By 10 p.m., Delgado-Ramos’ husband and cousin were trying to access the property on foot to survey the extent of the damage.
A car crushed by debris at the South Plainfield house.
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The next thing she knew, her husband called around 11:30 p.m., telling her he heard a thunderous explosion. Their house went up in flames, which she could only watch helplessly from their elevated vantage point.
“Thank God we never came back, because our plan was to come back to the house to spend the night. The storm saved our lives. We could have been inside, thinking that we are safe, and then — boom,” she said.
“Thank God it happened to us and not the neighbors who were in the house when this happened.”
Workers in safety vests assess damage after a house explosion.
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A work crew assessing the damage in the street.
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She said investigators are working to determine the cause of the blast, and that their next hurdle will be dealing with their insurance company.
The cause of the blast hasn’t been determined, but some neighbors reported smelling gas in the area.
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“It’s kind of a shock, so we spent most of the morning camping outside the house, but now we’re shopping for a few different items and we’re going to spend the night with family.”
Nicola Gibbs, the across-the-street neighbor from Delgado-Ramos’ destroyed home, said she was sitting on her porch when it all went down.
An aerial view of the damage in South Plainfield.
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“It was exactly at 11:20 and I’m sitting right here with my dog just watching the water recede. The water was all the way to my steps. and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the roof just flew up,” she said of the blast that leveled the family dwelling.
“And as soon as the roof went up, the house exploded underneath. And just the blast just pushed me and the dog into the house.”
She said she could feel the heat from the house fire from inside her home, and that she thought the family was still inside when she called the police and fire department.
“I was just in a panic, and I’m telling them to hurry up, there’s a family in there. And the officer was just telling me ‘please calm down’ because she couldn’t understand what I was saying because I was just so frantic.”
Delgado-Ramos and her family arrived around 45 minutes later.
“I spoke to Lina afterward and she’s just devastated. I held her. I told her God had you, it was a blessing that no one was caught or injured in the house, that they got out before it even happened. They’re truly blessed,” she said.
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