New Jersey storm survey from NJ Spotlight
Officials across NJ Thursday were assessing the damage wrought by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which dropped 8 inches of rain in much of the northern part of the state and sparked twisters, including one that left a suburban section of Gloucester County resembling the Great Plains.
The storm is responsible for at least 23 deaths, Gov. Phil Murphy said this evening, including four who drowned in the basement of an apartment complex in Elizabeth.
Most others were motorists and passengers who got swept away in their vehicles by flash floods.
The death toll may rise as officials field reports of missing people.
More rain fell at Newark Airport yesterday (8.44 inches) than ever before, at least in terms of current records, according to the National Weather Service; Terminal B was closed for much of the day with flooding on its lower level.
Murphy, like his counterparts in neighboring states, declared a state of emergency and said he is seeking a disaster declaration from President Joe Biden.
See NJ Spotlight News for more coverage.
All of the major rivers in the northern part of the state overflowed their banks in places during the deluge, in some cases at record-setting levels.
Water levels in many sections of the state started to recede today, but not all.
The Raritan River at Bound Brook remains at its crest, just shy of a record-setting high-water mark, and upstream the flood levels were just starting to go down after breaking a record.
Forecasters say the Passaic won’t crest in Little Falls and Pine Brook until Saturday, in both cases beyond the level that constitutes a major flood.
Similarly, the Delaware River has yet to recede in the area north of Trenton.
In the state’s capital city, where water levels are predicted to rise again tomorrow morning, Mayor Reed Gusciora late today urged residents in flood-prone sections to evacuate if they have not yet already done so.
The National Weather Service has confirmed three tornado touchdowns in the state associated with Ida, including one in the Mullica Hill section of Gloucester County where homes in a subdivision were literally blown apart.
The preliminary assessment of the Gloucester storm puts it at EF-3, which if confirmed, would make it the fifth twister in the state to reach that level of force (wind speeds as high as 165 mph) since 1950, according to records kept by Rutgers.
Authorities say many of the residents were home, but none died as warning systems gave them a chance to take shelter in the basement.
Murphy and a host of other officials visiting the neighborhood this morning and gave a briefing on the storm and recovery efforts statewide.
The second twister touched down in Edgewater Park in Burlington County, was rated at EF-1, with 90 mph winds.
A third hit, which hit Princeton, was rated at EF-0, with winds topping out at 75 mph
Murphy and other officials tied the storm and its severity to climate change, saying it presented definitive proof that more must be done to wean the nation from carbon-based fuels.
See NJ Spotlight News for a video report.
As tornadoes strike, horrified families watch their South Jersey homes explode around them
By Frank Kummer Philadelphia Inquier
Ashley Thomas thought she’d be spending Wednesday evening happily preparing for the first day of school at her Vineland classroom.
Instead, along with husband Troy and their two little girls, Ashley — who is due to deliver their third child in a month — cowered in the basement of their South Jersey home. Their phones blared alarms as a swirling black cloud bore down. First, it peeled off the second story of their home. Then the floorboards started to cave in, raining debris on the parents shielding their children.
Across the Philadelphia region, the remnants of Hurricane Ida touched down with devastating and terrifying force, its winds plowing through neighborhoods with barely any warning. Over nearly three hours Wednesday afternoon into evening, the National Weather Service issued 14 tornado warnings, many aimed at central Montgomery County. By Thursday evening, seven tornadoes were confirmed.
In Fort Washington, neighbors mourned Maxine Weinstein, whom they said died after a tree trapped her inside her home. “I’m not a weather person, but no one can tell me this wasn’t a tornado,” said her neighbor Mark Harris.
Countless homes and buildings had their roofs peeled back like paper with winds clocked at up to 130 mph. Experts were still assessing the data and damage, but likely the strongest came in South Jersey. There, the tornado that devastated some houses in Mullica Hill was so potent that it carried debris thousands of feet. Its top winds were 150 mph, the weather service said, an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
Tornadoes are hardly routine in this region. Before Wednesday, 26 had touched down on Pennsylvania soil this year, according to the government’s Storm Prediction Center. The 30-year normal for an entire year is 16. And normally, only two a year touch down in Jersey. As of Wednesday, 10 had.
“Everything happened so fast,” a stunned Thomas recalled Thursday morning, pointing down into a hole in a heap of rubble to show where they hid in their Mullica Hill home.
”The house literally fell on top of us,” she said. “Pipes were bursting. We said we have to get out of here before it explodes.”
Read the full story here
Philly residents have ‘never seen anything like’ Ida’s historic flooding near Schuylkill River Trail
Drone 6 shows shocking flooding on Vine Street Expressway
Floodwaters engulf vehicles, shut down parts of Philadelphia to traffic
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