Abington Police And Other Departments Helped UD Police During Hurricane Ida Last Week

ABINGTON, PA — The timing couldn’t have been better.

Two Abington Township Police officers were on their way back to the township after making a prison run to Montgomery County Correctional Facility when the call came over the radio.

The Upper Dublin Police Department lost its headquarters when a tornado spawned by Hurricane Ida took off the roof of the building, rendering it inoperable.

The two Abington officers just so happened to be passing through Upper Dublin on their way back to their district so they stopped off to render assistance. Shortly after that, Abington police officials back at their headquarters were getting ready to send help officially when they connected with the two Abington officers who were already heading to Upper Dublin to offer mutual aid.

The two officers ended up working a 10-hour shift in Upper Dublin, handling general police service calls, like car accidents and other calls for assistance, as the Upper Dublin cops attended to damage and destruction caused by Hurricane Ida.

The two Abington officers even helped out with some water rescues during the height of the storm.

Abington was one of a number of local police departments who came to Upper Dublin’s aid during the after immediately following the intense storms produced by Ida in the middle of last week, Upper Dublin Police Chief Francis Wheatley previously told Patch.

On Thursday, Abington Police Lt. Ed Quinn told Patch about his township’s participation. In addition to the two officers, Abington also lent Upper Dublin a large, mobile field communications unit, which helped Upper Dublin since that township’s police communications center was compromised due to the damaging storm.

Quinn said the storms on Sept. 1 caused mostly flooding issues in Abington, so his police department had the manpower to spare the two officers.

While other areas in Montgomery County experienced issues due to Hurricane Ida, Upper Dublin was one of the townships in the region that was hit particularly hard.

The entire municipal complex was rendered unusable when an EF 2 tornado tore the roof off the building. The Upper Dublin Police Department also operates out of that same complex.

Since last week, Upper Dublin has been in the process of relocating its municipal offices and police headquarters to other buildings in the township.

The Upper Dublin High School and Fort Washington Elementary School also sustained both exterior and interior damage due to the storms.