Storm impacts town
STORM, from Page 1
storms included a “comma head”
that may have helped generate
those high winds.
The fast-moving storm lasted approximately two hours in southern
New Jersey but led to a temperature drop of nearly 20 degrees during that period, from the sweltering
low-90s to the low-70s.
According to comments made
by Atlantic City Electric and Delmarva Power Regional Communications Director Lendel Jones
during a phone conference on June
24, approximately 100,000 customers out of the 280,000 that had
lost power had seen their power restored by that date. Jones said
Gloucester and Camden Counties
saw far more power outages than
Atlantic County, which had ap-
proximately 12,000 outages as of
June 24. Gloucester County had
72,000 and Camden County had
64,000 on that date, Jones said.
Damage to Atlantic City Electric
equipment was more extensive
than in previous storms, Jones said.
“We lost five substations … 20
transmission lines. There was not
the same severity of property damage as Sandy, but there was more
damage to Atlantic City Electric
equipment [than with Sandy],”
Jones said on June 24.
Perhaps the most iconic piece of
damage locally was the large
decades-old flagpole at Penza’s
Pies at the Red Barn Cafe on
Route 206. The flagpole was bent,
but not broken, and could be seen
still flying the American flag after
the storm.
Town officials commented on
the storm and its aftermath during
interviews with The Gazette held
during the days following June 23.
“The town responded extremely
well. The first responders did a
tremendous job — police, fire,
dispatch, rescue, highway and
Deputy Mayor Tom Gribbin and
Jerry Barberio were very calm at
the wheel. It was a team effort. We
had some concerning moments for
a few hours. The residents handled
themselves extremely well under
pressure. I am very satisfied with
the services the town has delivered. A state of emergency has to
be declared in a couple of counties
that were effected, from a loss in
commerce, to residents that were
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Wednesday, July 1, 2015 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
affected with property damage or
loss of the food in their refrigerators, to the farmers who lost some
of their product. I believe the governor needs to come down to South
Jersey and take a look at the devastation down here. If he wants to be
a leader and may want to be a
leader of this great county, he has
to do right by the families of this
fine town and southern New Jersey,” DiDonato said.
DiDonato added he would like to
see county officials like Fifth District Atlantic County Freeholder
James Bertino, of Hammonton,
and Atlantic County Executive
Dennis Levinson “stand up and be
counted” regarding the aftermath
of the storm and declaring a state
of emergency.
“They are all on the clock,” DiDonato said.
Hammonton Police Lt. Kevin
Friel provided statistics about the
number and types of calls received
at the Hammonton Police Department from the time period of 6
p.m. on June 23 when the first
storm hit to 11:59 p.m. on June 27,
the night of the second storm,
which Friel said brought approximately four inches of rain.
• 31 alarm calls were responded
to during the storm and its aftermath from 6 p.m. on June 23 to
11:59 p.m. on June 26, Friel said.
• There were 51 “wire down”
calls from June 23 at 6 p.m. to
11:59 p.m. on June 26, Friel said.
• The police department handled
a total of 291 calls from 6 p.m. on
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June 23 to 11:59 p.m. on June 26,
Friel said.
• There were a total of 33 EMS
AtlantiCare calls: four from accidents, six for fires, three fire alarm
calls and 20 medical calls for service from 6 p.m. on June 23 to 11:59
p.m. on June 26, Friel said.
• Hammonton Volunteer Fire
Companies No. 1 and No. 2 responded to a total of 58 calls: 21
wire down calls, 13 fire calls, one
mutual aid call, seven property
damage calls, one road hazard call,
two ambulance sick calls, four accidents, seven fire alarm calls, an
animal complaint, and a “check
well-being” call, Friel said.
“It was more than the normal
amount of calls we usually receive.
There were also a multitude of
phone calls to the department from
citizens requesting assistance from
other agencies and utilities. Those
calls were either referred or assisted. The fire companies, AtlantiCare EMS and public works
department helped tremendously,”
Friel said.
Friel said a number of traffic signals were out, including the one at
Route 206 and Route 30 – which
was out most of June 23 and all of
June 24, and the one at Route 30
and Fairview – which was out most
of June 23 and all of June 24.
“There were a substantial
amount of trees down, many of
them taking down wires. Several
impacted homes and buildings. A
tree on the 700 block of Bellevue
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