Laden...
In Mullica Hill, the EF-3 tornado flattened houses and toppled silos at the Eachus family's farm, where cows supply milk to Wellacrest Farms. All but 3 of the cows in the herd survived. (Joe Warner | For NJAM)
Good morning, New Jersey.
Wherever you're reading this, I hope it finds you safe and dry.
I'm writing, as always, from Mullica Hill, a Gloucester County community most folks hadn't heard of this time last week. It's been a strange, scary few days, as our little town about 20 miles south of Philadelphia became the dateline for national and international news stories about the EF-3 tornado that plowed through homes, flattened trees and tipped over two 80-foot corn silos.
Technically, "Mullica Hill" is just the downtown area of Harrison Township, where a Quaker Meeting that formed in the 1790s still worships, across from the little square where the annual Christmas tree lighting takes place. The local karate school practices in a church from the 1840s along a real, old-timey Main Street.
But with new highways enabling rapid development over the last 25 years, "Mullica Hill" has become a catchall address for Harrison and parts of South Harrison townships. It's one of those increasingly rare slices of New Jersey where both millionaire pro athletes and middle-class families of teachers, nurses, and journalists can afford to build or buy a dream home. Think Colts Neck, 30 years ago.
A few miles from my house, the Eachus family's cows quietly supply millions of gallons of milk to Wellacrest Farms. I drove by it every week for years without knowing it's New Jersey's largest dairy farm. I learned that from one of Matt Gray's stories this week. The nearby Grasso vegetable farm was decimated. Some crops survived but the equipment to harvest and process it was wrecked, county officials said.
When we moved here in 2004, the closest ShopRite was miles away in Glassboro; our own shopping center -- with a McDonalds! -- wouldn't arrive for years. The gorgeous Inspira Hospital that opened just before the pandemic started will be "the new hospital" to us forever.
That shopping center with the Mickey D's is next to the plaza where NJ.com's Mullica Hill office sits. And from there, my colleague Chris Franklin was working when the storm bore down.
When it passed, Chris set aside his own work covering the Eagles and flexed his breaking news muscles. With photographer Tim Hawk, they set out in the rain as darkness fell to document the destruction.
All things being equal, we were lucky in Mullica Hill. Two squawking tornado alerts gave folks time to get to the basements. Wide-spaced homes and acres of farmland minimized flooding. Both factors helped us avoid the human tragedy unfolding in North Jersey, where at least 23 people are dead and some streets remain inaccessible.
All over the state, NJ.com journalists are out reporting and telling stories about what the remnants of Hurricane Ida left behind. Here's some of the latest: MANVILLE BURNING: Several buildings still inaccessible because of flood waters were on fire in Manville Friday afternoon. The image of The Saffron banquet hall, still smoldering amid the flood, will stay with you.
COMMUTE FROM HELL: About 200 people were stuck on an NJ Transit train for several hours in darkness near Newark Airport during the storm. Rescue from the 4- to 5- foot floodwaters that surrounded the train didn't come until Thursday morning, Larry Higgs reports. 'ALL WE COULD FIND WAS A PICTURE OF OUR BABY': One of those homes on fire in Manville belongs to Megan and Caesar Dommar. The couple fled the house with their newborn as the storm approached. Our Katie Kausch tells the rest of this affecting tale. AFTER IDA: The storm has passed, but it isn't over. At least six people are still missing, nearly 10,000 homes are still without power, and a long and expensive cleanup and recovery lies ahead. UPSTREAM, RED TEAM?: With parts of Route 18 under water, the Rutgers-Temple football game is now today at noon! SHI Stadium was a sellout before the storm, no doubt from lots of Temple fans making the trip from North Broad Street. We know Scarlet Knights fans will represent. Will Owls fans make it out of flooded Philly? Finally, I don't want to forget about Keith Pinto, the 19-year-old lifeguard who died Monday after a seemingly random lightning strike hit eight people on the beach in South Seaside Park. He'll be laid to rest this weekend, at the close of a punishing summer season that saw two young ocean lifeguards killed while on duty. Take it easy, Keith. And thanks for everything.
P.S.: Happy Birthday to us! Labor Day weekend last year marked the debut of this Letter. You've loved me, you've hated me, we've agreed and disagreed and argued and laughed. But each week, thousands of you have taken the time to read, and that's my favorite kind of gift.
P.P.S.: Bake your own!
Amy Z. Quinn Audience Editor
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Laden...
Laden...
