By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
SOMERS POINT – Winds up to 71 miles per hour slammed south Jersey Monday morning, tearing apart a big storage building at All Action Sports in Somers Point and sending the debris flying over the stored wave-runners and neighboring properties.
The winds tore down signs, including the longstanding one for Bob’s Grill by the Ocean City Boardwalk, all the way down to Cape May, where the sign for Lucky Bones Backwater Grille lay in the parking lot after the winds finished.
Throughout the region, the winds, measured up to 69.5 mph in Ocean City and 71 mph at Middle Thorofare Bridge, knocked down trees, left thousands of people in communities including Ocean City and Upper Township without power, ripped up roofs, blew over fences, sent loose items flying and even helped a port-a-potty skid across Asbury Avenue in the downtown.
“Fortunately, there have been no reported injuries (as of 2:45 p.m.) but Ocean City remains under a High Wind Warning and Tornado Watch until the early evening,” Ocean City public information officer Doug Bergen reported Monday afternoon.
“The gauge at 59th Street reported a peak wind gust of 69.5 mph at about 11:11 a.m. with sustained winds in the 50 mph range in the same time period,” he said. “Atlantic City Electric is reporting about 2,081 homes in the north end without power since about 11:12 a.m. Crews are on the scene but there is no estimated time for restoration. There are scattered but much smaller outages throughout the rest of the island,” he added yesterday afternoon.
Bergen said some traffic lights in Ocean City were damaged or without power.
“Roofs and shingles have been blown off homes. Signs toppled. Deck furniture, trash cans and other loose items scattered,” he said. “It’s a good day to adhere to the shelter-in-place orders.”
Across New Jersey, State Police Superintendent Pat Callahan, during Gov. Phil Murphy’s daily COVID-19 briefing Monday afternoon, said all but five counties in the northwest corner of the state were under a tornado watch. The watch continued until about 6 p.m. Monday, but there were no reports of a tornado in south Jersey.
Christina Rovinski sent video to CBS Philadelphia showing the moments when the high winds took the roof off a big storage shed at All Action Water Sports on Dockside Drive in Somers Point, then sent the debris over the rows and rows of wave-runners stored at the site. Pieces of the building were in neighboring yards as well Tuesday morning with some of the wave-runners stuck under the former structure. Various Philadelphia TV news crews were on the scene Tuesday morning.
The winds also collapsed the roof of a gas station in Egg Harbor Township. Back in Cape May, the wind caused damage to businesses along the beachfront, including Carney’s bar and Congress Hall on Beach Avenue. The roofs and fronts of the buildings were damaged.
After the high winds hit, Congressman Van Drew requested a state of emergency declaration for south Jersey. “Over the last few hours, storms and powerful winds have damaged huge areas of South Jersey, while we are in the midst of a public health crisis,” Van Drew said in a press release. “I am asking the governor to declare an immediate State of Emergency to help our community rebuild. We need the help now more than ever.”