Jul. 1—A New Jersey woman died after a thunderstorm knocked a tree onto a camper Sunday, June 30, in Cooks Falls.

The Town of Colchester Police Department received multiple reports of trees down on campers at multiple locations with an individual trapped at the Russell Brook Campground, 731 Russell Brook Road, at 10:50 a.m., a media release posted on the department’s Facebook page stated.

Enroute to the call, fire, EMS and law units encountered numerous trees and power lines down secondary to a strong storm that had moved through the area. First responders arrived at the campground and found multiple trees and powerlines down and a woman who had been struck by a fallen tree.

The investigation revealed that the woman was inside of the camper when a large tree fell, striking the camper and pinning her under it, the release stated.

The woman was identified as Carol E. Luistro, of Edison, New Jersey. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Two people received minor injuries, county Emergency Services Director Steve Hood said.

The Butternut Grove Campground was damaged during the storm, Hood said. A lot of campers were damaged, however, there were no injuries reported there.

According to the release, the following agencies responded to the incident: Cooks Falls Fire Department, East Branch Fire Department, Roscoe Rockland EMS, Town of Hancock EMS, Livingston Manor EMS, MobilMedic EMS, Upper Delaware EMS, state police, Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, Downsville Fire Department, Roscoe Fire Department, Livingston Manor Fire Department, Delaware County Emergency Services, Sullivan County Emergency Services, Delaware County 911 Center, Sullivan County 911 Center, town of Colchester Highway Department, Delaware County Highway Department and the Delaware County Medical Examiner.

At first, it was reported that a tornado had touched down at the campground. This prompted an investigation by the National Weather Service out of Binghamton.

According to the investigation, which was posted on the service’s website, “a severe microburst with estimated wind speeds of up to 90 mph occurred just northwest to north of Cooks Falls, near the southeastern edge of Delaware County.”

The path of the microburst was 1.5 miles in Cooks Hollow and Butternut Grove in the Beaver Kill Valley, and up the Russell Brook drainage area.

According to the report, the “microburst impacted two campgrounds with very damaging straight line winds. Many recreational vehicles and camper units, a few tents, and at least two vehicles were heavily damaged and in some cases destroyed by falling trees. Some of the trees or large branches exceeded a foot in diameter. … Eyewitnesses reported that the winds came up suddenly and then lasted at least five minutes with one tree after another falling during that period.”