Heavy rain, floods, power outages Monday — When will it all stop?

TRENTON — The number of roads closed and power outages because of the heavy rain grew on Monday morning.

A line of heavy showers lifted from south to north during the morning commute dropped 1 to 2 inches of rain, creating high standing water on some highways, according to NJ 101.5 meteorologist Dan Zarrow. He expected the rain to completely clear the state by early afternoon.

Some of the earlier restrictions and lane closures on Monday included:

• Interstate 287 southbound - 4 lanes blocked at Route 1 in Edison - only the shoulder gets by
• Route 1 southbound — Right lane blocked at Raymond Rd in South Brunswick
• Route 17 southbound - CLOSED between Terrace Ave and Williams Ave in Hasbrouck Heights
• Route 3 eastbound - CLOSED at Route 21 in Clifton
• Route 10 westbound  — CLOSED between Center Grove Rd in Randolph
• Route 22 east/westbound — 2 lanes blocked at North Drive in North Plainfield
• Interstate 287 southbound — Right lane blocked at No. 35 (Route124) in Morristown
• Garden State Parkway southbound — Right lane blocked at the Colonia service area
• Route 38 east/west at Longwood Ave in Cherry Hill
• Route 47 north/southbound between Pacific Ave and the Parkway in Wildwood

The weather also contributed to delays on the the North Jersey Coast Line between South Amboy and Woodbridge during the morning commute.

Around 6,000 customers were without power as of 3:15 p.m. on Monday.

• PSE&G:  1,594 outages throughout its service area
• JCP&L: 4,410 outages in Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris and Ocean counties

JCP&L also made water and ice available for customers  without service in Monmouth & Ocean counties.

Rain also hampered efforts to extinguish a "significant structure fire" on Seagull Lane in Ortley Beach, according to Toms River Police spokesman Ralph Stocco.

Stocco said the first arriving officers found the house fully engulfed and were concerned about people inside sleeping. They began a search of the first floor but were forced out by heavy smoke

"Weather conditions were severe with near zero visibility," Stocco said of fire fighting efforts. Some neighboring homes were damaged as well. The fire was brought under control by 8:15 a.m.

Fire units from Ocean Beach, Toms River #1, Toms River #2, East Dover, Silverton, Lavallette, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, and Point Beach responded to the fire which also affected a second house at 118 Sea Gull Lane.

Bay Head Fire Captain Todd LaRue told NJ.com that the peak of the Grenville Hotel and Restaurant in Bay Head was struck by lightning around 7 a.m. There was no fire but pieces of the Victorian era building's roof wound up in the street, according to LaRue.

A series of power outages on Sunday night knocked out power for about 6,000 customers in Monmouth County.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ