Howell Tornado Hit Aldrich Area First In 1.4-Mile Path: Officials

HOWELL, NJ — Howell continued cleaning up Monday after it was confirmed a tornado with winds as high as 120 mph first struck the Aldrich area Saturday and then continued to create damage for 1.4 miles, including at the Winding Brook Mobile Homes Park, emergency officials said.

Despite this, "There was not one injury," said Victor Cook, head of the Office of Emergency Management.

Cook said he was told the tornado was an EF-2, meaning it had winds up to 120 mph, he said Monday afternoon.

Its force struck Spicy Pond Road's southwest corner the worst, lifting off a roof of one house and carrying a rafter 125 yards to a house behind on Addison Road, the National Weather Service confirmed late Monday.

The National Weather Service also confirmed that what it referred to as the "Jackson-Howell" tornado was indeed a category EF-2. It was 150 yards wide and 1.4 miles in length, the weather service said.

Utility poles were damaged, wires downed, fences destroyed and trees and brush were littering the streets and yards in the town, he said.

By Monday at 10 a.m., JCP&L said 100 customers in Howell were still without power, although Cook said almost everyone was restored by Monday evening. Jackson still had 2,700 without power Monday morning and Upper Freehold had power outages as well on Monday, JCP&L spokesperson Chris Hoenig said Monday.

Howell had set up an emergency shelter with the Red Cross at the Senior Center. Police Chief John Storrow said one person remained there as of Monday morning. Cook said the shelter is now closed.

Howell elementary schools were closed Monday due to the road conditions; Howell High School, part of the Freehold Regional High School District, was open, Cook said.

Cook urged residents to stay away from any downed wires and to not drive over or under them.

He said "renegade" tree services were working already on Sunday at private homes but in dangerous conditions, near wires.

"People think they'll get power back if they cut the trees," Cook said, adding that that won't restore power.

Cook said the New Prospect power substation in Jackson lost two poles in the storm and that was what affected the power service in Howell.

Cook said residents should report all downed trees or wires or other damage to the emergency office.

He said the "Jackson-Howell" tornado first came down in the Aldrich area, near Jackson, and went along Addison Road toward Spicy Pond Road. It then traveled along New Friendship Road, to the Winding Brook trailer park in the Ramtown area. He said the area of Route 9 by the ShopRite was in its path. On Saturday, a bus shelter there was destroyed, officials said.

Here were some of the main areas of damage, according to Cook:

• Cook said a family renting the Spicy Pond Road house were on the second floor when the roof came off, but no one was injured and the family has found other housing.
• Aldrich School on Aldrich Road lost its solar panels. They were blown to the field and playground behind the school. No injuries or other damage was reported.
• The Winding Brook Mobile Home Park off Route 547 had a series of poles snapped, Cook said.

Cook said his office has received more than 500 calls with damage reports. Residents should continue to contact the Emergency Operations Center at 732-961-5100 to report damage, he said.

Residents should leave all brush and other storm debris at the curb. The Department of Public Works is now collecting debris, Cook said.

The National Weather Service by 5:30 p.m. Monday provided a precise tracking of the tornado, including these highlights:

The tornado made an initial touchdown on Palomino Drive, snapping or uprooting "dozens" of trees in a 100-yard-wide path. Numerous fences were also demolished.

The path of tree damage continued across New Prospect Road and along the north and northeast periphery of the newly built Paragon apartment complex.

Damage was consistent with winds 100-120 mph.

The tornado then moved east and southeast along a 150-yard-wide path, causing damage to trees, and utility poles and property at Larsen Road and Maplewood Place, where winds were 90 to 110 mph, more consistent with an EF-1 tornado, the weather service said.

However, then the tornado picked up strength and was likely "at its greatest intensity" at Spicy Pond Road. There the house lost its roof and a rafter was thrown 125 yards and "impaled" on a roof on Addison Road, the update said.

The tornado likely ended at Addison Road, but not before it cut a swath of damage 150 yards wide and 300 yards long in the area, the National Weather Service report said.