Welcome to winter.
Winter Storm Blair swirled from the center of the nation, through the capital, and then made its presence known in Cape May County and other parts of New Jersey.
As of about 10:30 a.m. Monday, the county had received about 5 inches of snow, as measured at the Cape May County Emergency Management Center, located at the Cape May Airport in Lower Township.
“State, county and municipal crews are currently deployed and working diligently to clear roadways,” said county OEM Coordinator Christopher Leusner.
Leusner said his office anticipated heavy snowfall to continue for “the next few hours.” He said the snow was expected to taper off Monday afternoon, but snow showers would continue into the evening.
“We are asking residents to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary,” Leusner added. “This will allow our snow removal crews to clear streets and ensure safe travel conditions as quickly as possible.”
Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency for Cape May and six other South Jersey counties on Sunday, Jan. 5, prior to the first snowflakes falling, which locally began at around 4 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 6.
The county and municipal governments and school districts took steps to prepare for the storm. All public schools in the county closed due to the weather, including the two county districts – Cape May Technical School and Special Services.
Cooper University Hospital-Cape Regional Urgent Care locations remained open. AtlantiCare Cape May Urgent Care closed on Monday but advised clients to call ahead to check on in-person and telehealth availability.
Cape May County responded to the storm with a state of emergency that closed the branch libraries, the county zoo and all parks, and all the senior centers. The county halted Fare Free Transportation services on Monday, except for dialysis patients, but Meals on Wheels continued to serve its clients.
The zoo and parks were scheduled to remain closed all day Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 6 and Jan. 7. The county library main branch in Court House was scheduled to open for regular hours on Monday.
Trash and recycling pickup was delayed in most towns in the county.
There were limited power outages as a result of the storm. By early afternoon there were only 16 customers without power, according to Atlantic City Electric.
North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello said that as of early afternoon his city was trying to keep up with the snow, which continued to fall. He echoed sentiments from Leusner, saying people should stay off the roads so crews could plow the streets.
Lower Township Mayor Frank Sippel said the plowing crews have been busy but otherwise there have been few problems. He said the township has an Emergency Management Council of about 18 people from township government, and they have had multiple conferences within the township government and with the county.
“We had our first conference on Saturday at 4 p.m., before the storm, to plan for this winter storm,” Sippel said.
Sippel said they put together a list of priorities to give to the county, including getting some of the first plowing at the airport, where the county OEM center is located, and at the Lower Township Police Department.
The mayor said he believed people were cooperating with the state of emergency and the request to stay off the roads.
The only matter that came up, other than snow removal, he said, was the county’s asking Lower to open its homeless warming center all day on Monday. Sippel said January is Middle Township’s month to host the warming center, but it did not have the staffing to work during the day.
Herald reporter Vince Conti contributed to this report.
Contact the writer, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call him at 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
