BLACKWOOD, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — The National Weather Service says it has confirmed that a tornado struck the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township in Camden County at 5 a.m. Thursday morning.
Investigators said the EF1 tornado contained winds as fast as 90 miles per hour. Its path ran a quarter-mile long and was 60 yards wide.
The NWS in Mount Holly said most of their investigative activity Thursday centered around Erial Road.
Branch limbs were strewn about and sheds were torn to pieces in the Deer Park Circle neighborhood. Crews were cleaning them up Thursday morning.
Neighbors say it woke them up but it was over in a flash. Nonetheless, the damage was done.
Fallen trees were facing north on one side of the street and south on the other, evidence that this wasn’t a straight line of wind that blew through.
There’s a shed in Woody Corsen’s yard that actually belongs to his neighbor a few houses up. Meanwhile, his shed is nowhere to be found. He said the storm started with heavy rain.
“Finally it got to be where the whole house was shaking,” he recalled. “Things were blowing from everybody’s yard into our yard and down the street. It was over in 30 seconds.”
Across the street, the damage actually entered Alyssa Scurato and Alec Barmore’s new home. A tree limb crashed through the ceiling in their den. They just bought the house and sent their first mortgage payment.
“This was our most put-together room that we had,” she said.
Fortunately, the damage has already been inspected, and it does not appear structural. “They said it’s superficial,” she said. “They said it looks worse than it is, so that’s promising.”
No injuries have been reported.