National Weather Service Confirms Tornado Touched Down In Cape May County During Elsa
WOODBINE, N.J. (CBS) -- Parts of the Jersey Shore are cleaning up after Tropical Storm Elsa blew through overnight with ferocious winds. On Friday, crews with the National Weather Service spent the day touring Woodbine, Somers Point and Little Egg Harbor Township, where they confirmed a tornado did blow through Cape May County.
Woodbine, Cape May County is only now beginning to clean up the damage left behind by Elsa. Neighbors in Woodbine are still rattled after a tornado hit this area.
Security video shows the moments whipping winds threw an umbrella and pool chair and loose objects into the air before knocking over a pavilion.
"It was unbelievably powerful," Jim Trimbur said.
It happened around 2:30 a.m. Friday at Ocean World Condominium in Woodbine.
"I heard the pounding rain. It actually sounded like somebody was outside hosing my place down directly and then bam, it stopped in the blink of an eye like nothing. Dead silence, so I climbed back in bed," Trimbur said.
Hours later, the sun rose to reveal the mess left behind.
"6:30, the phone rings. They're telling me, 'Jim, the place has been demolished and all,'' Trimbur said.
The storm blew off roof shingles from a shed and damaged the clubhouse. Now, crews are working to clear big trees that had been knocked over.
"It was quite a bit of damage between the building and other gazebo," Ken McNeeley said.
Over in Longport, strong winds knocked down several utility poles along state Route 152 by Bay Avenue. Part of the road has been closed for most of the day as crews worked to make repairs.
The National Weather Service was on the ground there Friday, as well as in Woodbine, to determine if a possible tornado swept through.
Neighbors in Woodbine say it's lucky the storm missed nearby homes.
"We're lucky nobody got hurt. That's the biggest thing," McNeeley said.
