Derecho June 29th, 2012--Worse than a Hurricane

    It finally feels like we have recovered from a "Super Derecho".  The memory of the storm is fading as people remove the evidence in the hundreds of downed trees in the area especially in Atlantic County.  Many people lost their power for a week.  I was one of the lucky ones in Egg Harbor City that only had power out for a day and a half.  I got to try my new generator that I bought because of hurricane Irene that caused outages the year before.  I am still a bit upset with the TV news weather reporters.  Why is it that most of us young and old had never heard of the term derecho?  It is only after the fact that they are describing these storms and their attributes and telling us that they are not unheard of even in our area. 

     Aside from the deaths and home damage,  the trees suffered the most.  If they were old--- maybe 100 plus years or so--- with rotting problems,  they were coming down in the strong winds. Mays Landing, NJ was hit especially hard right near the court house.

    Katherine Flegal, 66, of the township’s Weymouth section was hurt critically when the derecho’s 80-mph winds brought a large tree down on to her trailer. Police arrived to find Flegal trapped in her trailer because of the tree.   Flegal died from her injuries on July 10, 2012.

     Other storm related deaths include business owner Ming Zhen Chen, 48, of Egg Harbor Township who died during the storm when his boat capsized near the Brigantine Bridge in Absecon Bay. Also, two children were killed during the derecho when a tree fell on their tent in the Parvin State Forest in Salem County.

    According to the National Weather Service, a derecho is a gigantic wind storm coupled with thunderstorms. These are as powerful as tornadoes, but they don’t twist. They drive in a straight line. They’re described as land hurricanes because they have wind gusts of at least 58 miles per hour and higher.  They had no reports for severe storms for the South Jersey part of our area that was hardest hit.                               

   

     

 Here is a youtube video of the storm's origin in Iowa to New Jersey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lqRDMRmIbo&feature=related
 

  The following photos were from Egg Harbor City.  Some found it notable that that one tree missed the blessed Virgin Mary Statue at the St. Nicholas Church.

 

     I remember this sweet girl from my time as a teacher at the Spragg School.  It was her mother's car that was smashed by the tree: