COURT HOUSE — The blizzard that began with scattered flakes at 4:20 p.m. Feb. 5 ended just before 7 p.m. Feb. 6, after dumping upwards of 20 inches on Cape May County.
The result was a blanket of icy snow that taxed individuals, municipalities and the county to the maximum to clear even the smallest path. Snow shovels and salt were in short supply, and many used whatever was available to clear a path.
Vehicles, even though equipped with four-wheel drive, easily got stuck in the thick snow. Police departments found themselves deluged by thousands of calls for everything from emergency medical calls to checking welfare of frail elderly or those with special needs.
Many residents huddled in layered clothing and shivered in darkness as ice-coated electric lines fell, and service to as many as 87,000 customers of Atlantic City Electric was interrupted, some for several hours, others for over a bone-chilling day and a half.
As of yesterday at 9 a.m., 30,853 customers were still without power and another significant winter storm was forecast to begin to today that was predicted to add six to nine inches of snow, but rain may reduce that total.
Crews in several hundred electric company trucks were working around the clock to restore power. As part of the restoration effort, Atlantic City Electric was assisted by neighboring utilities, including Jersey Central Power and Light, Orange and Rockland, Public Service Electric and Gas and Con Edison.
Workers went block-to-block, knocking ice from power lines and replacing damaged sections. Atlantic Electric representatives had said that power should have been restored to most homes by yesterday.
“Atlantic Electric has risen to the occasion and has hundreds of its employees on the island to restore power to homes that have been without heat or electric since the storm’s inception on Friday. They have an enormous task in front of them and the city will do whatever it can to restore power to the island,” Wildwood Mayor Gary DeMarzo said.
Cape May County Red Cross set up shelters in a number of communities in schools, firehouses and community centers. Police officers and firefighters made numerous trips to transport residents to shelters. In some instances, police officers had to use snow shovels to dig out elderly residents’ homes before they could be transported to shelters. Shelters quickly ran out of blankets. Residents were told to bring their own blankets and medication to shelters.
According to the county communications office, on Monday there were still several hundred people staying in local shelters, including: Middle Township, 80; North Wildwood, 68; Wildwood Crest, 18; and West Cape May, 7.
At one point, over 100 residents were sheltered at Villas or Town Bank fire halls. As of the Monday morning, power and cable was still out to a large portion of Lower Township and up to 50 residents remained at the Town Bank Fire Department shelter.
At a Monday press conference, county Emergency Management Director Frank McCall said that anyone still without power and in their homes should make arrangements to stay with family or friends “for an extended period of time.”
The list of cancellations was endless. Schools, government offices and services, businesses, churches, community organizations and services were all forced to close because of the storm.
All radio stations with transmitters located within Cape May County were off the air all weekend including 98.9 The Coast, Wibbage FM 94.3 and WCMC AM 1230 which made it impossible to relay information to citizens who had no power and only a battery-powered radio.
Herald Newspaper’s Text Alerts to their cell phones were one of the means of communications that kept subscribers abreast of weather and breaking news. That free service is available to all. Visit the Herald’s Web site, www.capemaycountyherald.com to subscribe.
In Lower Township, large trees across roadways forced police to shut Fulling Mill Road and Shunpike Road to all traffic. As of Monday afternoon, a large tree still blocked Shunpike Road in Erma.
Multiple wires down and arcing transformers exploded, which led to numerous calls to police for responses from Villas, Town Bank and Erma fire departments.
Utility poles with height tensions snapping on Ocean Drive forced police to close Ocean Drive for several hours.
One structure fire was reported in Shawcrest on Old Rio Grande Boulevard.
Lower Township and Wildwood fire departments responded to the blaze. They were on scene for several hours fighting the fire enduring high winds and heavy snow.
At the height of the storm, visibility was reduced to about a block in blowing snow. Plow crews had difficulty keeping up with the accumulating snow on many side streets with some plows getting stuck.
Snow depth totals as of Feb. 6 from the National Weather Service: Cape May, 24 inches; Sea Isle City, 12.5 inches; Woodbine, 17.5 inches; Wildwood Crest, 15 inches; Middle Township, 20.5 inches; Woodbine, 18 inches; Upper Township, 19.5 inches; and Lower Township, 16.2 inches.
The county declared a state of emergency, as the storm was about to begin.
Additionally, Cape May County Emergency Management Communications Center was activated.
The Cape May County Fire Coordinator, EMS Coordinators, CBRNE Director, Cape May County Fire Chiefs Association, Cape May County Public Works Association, the Cape May County Regional Emergency Special Operations Team and the Cape May County Municipal Offices of Emergency Management were positioned to respond to the disaster associated with the Nor’easter/winter snowstorm.
The emergency proclamation gave the county the authority to request resources from that State of New Jersey on behalf of municipalities.
The following resources were requested:
• State resources to assist with the power outage that can affect the entire county
• NJSP-OEM Incident Management and NJ Department of Transportation personnel to be at the county Emergency Management Communications Center
• New Jersey National Guard high-wheeled 4×4 vehicles will be requested to assist with medical emergencies
• New Jersey Forest Fire Service resources were requested should their services be necessary
The Cape May County Office of Emergency Management monitored the situation and remained in constant communication with State Police, the state Office of Emergency Management, the National Weather Service, municipal emergency management coordinators as well as other state and federal partners.
The county deployed its 25 trucks to plow snow and spread salt on the approximately 210 miles of county roads and 29 bridges (22 county bridges and seven county Bridge Commission bridges). The county Road Department used personnel from other departments and has approximately 35 staff members available to combat the winter weather conditions.
The county used its own 900 tons of salt housed at three locations and received several more thousands of tons of salt from other communities.
Heavy wet snow combined with downed power lines and fallen trees made snow removal difficult in Cape May County.
According to a Wildwood news release, the city used 20 tons of salt and countless man-hours in fire, ambulance, police and public works crews made it a very busy weekend for the city during the snowstorm. To make things more difficult, families and their dogs were camped out at the Wildwoods Convention Center, all in attendance at the Annual Wildwood Dog Show, the release stated.
Gov. Chris Christie held a press conference regarding the snowstorm at the county Emergency Management office located in the basement of the main branch of the Cape May County Library on Mechanic Street on Feb. 7.
Christie met with First District legislators Sen. Jeff Van Drew, Assemblyman Nelson Albano and Assemblyman Matthew Milam as well as county freeholders and emergency management officials. The governor promised to help the county deal with the storm and its aftermath.
With another storm predicted, the county will keep its emergency proclamation in effect throughout the week. Local law enforcement agencies stress non-essential travel is prohibited.
Police advise residents without power they may travel to one of the county shelters or a friend or relatives house. Anyone in need of evacuation to a shelter is asked to call police.
On a brighter note, if weather permits, Sea Isle City will be the site of the annual Polar Bear Plunge on Saturday at 2 p.m. On Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, Sunday, Mike’s Seafood will host the Polar Bear 5K Run and 1.5 mile walk for Autism.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
