Storm leaves long-lasting destruction

June 23 played host to one of the most devastating storms the area has ever seen.
Wind gusts were recorded up to 70 mph, leaving a wide path of destruction throughout Burlington County.

More than 200,000 power outages were reported throughout South Jersey as of the morning of June 24.

According to Atlantic City Electric, the area was completely without power as of the conclusion of the storm, and getting this power back proved to be quite a process.

The first few regions began to regain power on June 25, but for a lot of people, the outages carried into the weekend, and some experienced no power well into last week.

“We started to get up and running again on Thursday, but with another storm on Saturday and more rain on Tuesday evening, we experienced some setbacks,” Shamong Township Administrator Sue Onorato said.

The county stayed in touch with Atlantic City Electric each day through regional conference calls that provided updates on each particular town.

However, that was the only contact that was convenient. Communication was a large obstacle throughout this process.

Multiple Verizon cell towers were down in the county, preventing any users from making phone calls the evening of the storm.

Shamong’s township offices received record call numbers during the days following the storm.

As soon as it was able to receive the calls, it addressed them as they came in, but that proved to be nearly impossible with the limited staff.

Many staff members had to stay home and deal with their own homes being damaged, so several calls were forwarded to emergency services.

Some towns took to social media outlets to try to reach as many people as they could.

Township staff and public works groups worked tirelessly around the clock through the weekend, but the mass amounts of damage this storm left behind had many towns feeling in over their heads.

Local officials reached out to the county and state Offices of Emergency Management and FEMA representatives to attempt to obtain some physical or financial assistance.

“It did not appear that the township was equipped with the number of staff or equipment to pick up the amount of brush debris left by the storm as efficiently as private contractors would be able to,” Medford Township Manager Kathy Berger said.

As for the residents cleaning leftover debris out of their yards, local town officials advise that you go by standard brush collection procedures. Any alterations in instructions will be posted on your specific township’s website.

Moving forward, towns such as Medford, Shamong and Tabernacle plan to hold meetings to evaluate how they dealt with the emergency as a whole.

“Any weakness that we feel we showed in dealing with the circumstances will certainly be addressed and be corrected,” Tabernacle Township Administrator Doug Cramer said.

“Hindsight is always 20–20,” Onorato said. “Unlike snowstorms or hurricanes, we had no time to prepare for this. We are doing everything we can for residents and will look to make improvements moving forward.”

Folks who have been working in these townships for more than 30 years said it was the worst storm they’ve ever dealt with. Many compared this storm to 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, but this storm caused more damage to the area in a shorter period of time, as Sandy lasted well more than two days.

“It hit us pretty hard, a little worst than what we ended up with Sandy because it was more concentrated,” Cramer said. “We had done a little preparation in the days leading up to the storm based on weather reports but nothing like we would with a hurricane.”