LAKEWOOD, NJ — More storms have swept through central New Jersey, knocking out power to thousands of new utility customers.

Storms packing heavy rains and lightning hit Monmouth and Ocean counties early Saturday afternoon. Lakewood appeared to be the hardest-hit municipality, along with Toms River and Brick Townships.

About 30,000 customers overall lost power during the storms.

Jersey Central Power and Light had hoped to restore power to all customers by midnight. But a new round of storms hampered their efforts.

At midnight Saturday, more than 16,000 customers were without power. A majority of the new outages occurred in Monmouth and Mercer counties, and Freehold Borough and Freehold Township were hit particularly hard.

More scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast for early Sunday.