How Temple Ambler, Upper Dublin Township recovering from Hurricane Ida one year later
AMBLER, Pa. (CBS) -- One year ago, the remnants of Hurricane Storm Ida sparked a series of tornadoes in the Delaware Valley. Upper Dublin Township was among the hardest hit areas in the area.
A total of seven tornadoes touched down one year ago in Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, Gloucester, Burlington and Mercer Counties.
It was a sunny, breezy day at Temple University's Ambler campus Thursday, but a year ago, poles were knocked down, glass windows were blown out and roofs were ripped off buildings.
"The campus was really hit hard by the tornado," Temple Ambler Director Dr. Vicki Lewis McGarvey, said. "We have 19 buildings on this campus and 18 of them sustained damage in one form or another."
The twister, spawned by Hurricane Ida, also knocked down about 510 trees.
Since then, the university has replanted 150 of them and is still working to replace the rest.
Students were in this building and sheltered in place when the tornado hit. Classes were canceled for the next two weeks.
Officials say the university sustained more than $10 million in damage.
Three buildings on campus are still too damaged to go back into, but the rest have been repaired and life has mostly returned to normal.
Not so for some in the broader Upper Dublin community.
"This anniversary is very difficult for them," Traci Clapham, a volunteer with the Upper Dublin Lutheran Church, said, "knowing that a full year later, their lives still aren't back to normal."
More than 100 homes were deemed uninhabitable in the aftermath of the tornado.
Some of those homes still have tarps on the roof.
Clapham collected donations to help get residents back on their feet.
"We had food, clothing, cleaning supplies, outdoor cleaning supplies, school supplies, all those things," Clapham said. "There was so much work to be done."
And there still is.
One year later, repairs are being made to several schools in Upper Dublin damaged by the twister as the community continues to recover.
