Shannon Boyer was busy at work inside the Tamaqua Municipal Building about 3:15 p.m. Monday, when police working in the same building came and gave the employees some bad news - a large section of a tall maple tree had fallen in the parking lot, crashing down atop three cars.

The police had been working inside police headquarters at the southwest corner of the 320 E. Broad St. building and had heard the loud crash."The cops told me about it but they didn't know whose cars," said Boyer of Rush Township.Workers rushed outside to see that a row of three cars parked along the Panther Creek side of the parking lot were buried beneath heavy, fallen branches of a mature tree.Boyer's copper-colored Jeep sustained substantial damage, a smashed windshield, a partially caved-in roof and other dents and scratches.Others with damaged cars were: Mary Linkevich of Tamaqua, whose Buick Lucerne sustained various dents, and Christine Zamudio of Tamaqua, whose Dodge Caravan sustained a caved-in roof and other damage.For others, it was the luck of the draw as they just happened to park elsewhere when they arrived at work in the morning."I usually park here," said employee Tim Ziegler of Hometown, who stayed on the scene in case anybody needed assistance.There were no injuries reported and each employee will follow up with her automobile insurance company, a typical procedure under such circumstances, they said."It's an act of God," said borough manager Kevin Steigerwalt.The large tree is part of many that dot the banks of the Panther Creek as it winds its way through east Tamaqua before joining a confluence with the Wabash Creek and Little Schuylkill River near the south end of town.Borough workers moved in with heavy equipment and chain saws to dig out the vehicles, finishing just before a second storm moved in at 5 p.m.Downed trees and downed power lines were reported throughout the area as storms lashed the region.As of 5:30 p.m., PPL was reporting 150 customers without power in the Jim Thorpe Area and 414 in the Walnutport area.In Lehighton, a tree was struck by lightning and split, according to scanner reports.North Fireline Road was closed at Cherry Hill Road due to trees down.In the Bloomingdale section of Summit Hill crews were directing traffic along Route 902 because of multiple downed trees. Multiple downed trees were reported on Lentz Trail.Fritz Valley Road was closed just south of Route 443 in Mahoning Township, also due to downed trees.A manhole cover on First Street in Lehighton came off because of the heavy rain. Also on First Street, downed trees and wires were disrupting traffic in the area of Dollar General.Lightning struck a garage on Wood Road in Palmerton. Several fire companies responded. See photo on Page 3.Chris Reber contributed to this report.