Erik and Sarah Axelsen lived in their new Belle Mead home for just two weeks before disaster struck. A severe thunderstorm on Saturday, September 7, uprooted a giant oak tree on their front lawn, and it crashed through the roof of their one-story home at about 2:30 pm.

Uprooted trees, fallen branches — even a trampoline flying through the air in the Bridgepoint section of Belle Mead — closed sections of Route 206 and River Road (Route 533) today into this evening as Montgomery Public Works crews and first responders worked to reopen and restore order throughout the township.