Mantua Township was hit hard by Tuesday’s storm, with outages, closed roadways, and no school Wednesday
Gloucester County's northern and central municipalities saw significant storm damage as recovery efforts carried into Wednesday.
Mantua Township in Gloucester County was hit hard by storms Tuesday night that swept through the Philly region, causing damage to homes, electric outages, and school closures.
By 2 a.m., the Mantua Fire Department had reported downed trees and wires, road closures, and power outages, with its crews working into the morning to make fixes.
The fire department has responded to 75 incidents since Tuesday night, with about a quarter of the township impacted by the storms, said Mantua Fire Chief Brian Hauss.
No major injuries have been reported, Hauss said, though one person suffered a minor injury after a tree fell through their house, leaving them stuck inside. That person is now staying with family in the neighborhood, he said.
Hauss said the township hoped to clear major roads by Wednesday night, and auxiliary roads within the next couple of days. About 25 roadways in Mantua were impacted, and two “cut crews” are working with Atlantic City Electric to cut down power lines intertwined with trees to get the streets operational again.
The company reported more than 3,100 customers affected by 72 outages in Gloucester County Wednesday morning, including more than 1,200 customers in Mantua.
Mantua Mayor Bob Zimmerman posted Wednesday afternoon that residents without electricity should regain power by 11 p.m. Wednesday, though some areas may take longer. Zimmerman reported that the Mantua municipal building is closed due to the outages, and the township’s trash and recycling services are delayed due to debris.
The impacts forced Mantua Township School District to close Wednesday.
“We will reassess regarding school on Thursday, September 3rd,” a school district social media post reads.
Kids from Mantua who can’t go to school got free admission to Rowan University’s Edelman Fossil Park & Museum on Wednesday, and free admission for all Gloucester County children is set to continue Thursday.
The storm also took down the internet service for Mantua’s police department, meaning police could not provide copies of police reports or process firearms permits. The outage won’t impact emergency calls, according to a social media post.
Rick Sanderson, 43, just bought a home in Mantua last month. Now, the storms have left his sunroom and basement flooded, windows damaged, and his wood floors and couch ruined. He drove to his sister’s house to shower Wednesday morning, through powerless traffic lights, after dragging half a tree across his lawn to the curb. His neighbors have been working to clear their street of debris.
“I would just avoid Mantua altogether,” Sanderson said.
More Gloucester County municipalities posted about the storms’ impacts to their roadways and power lines. Deptford Township police said on social media that their department received multiple calls Tuesday night in the Oak Valley and Pine Acres sections of the township, and neighboring West Deptford Township reported “numerous” impacted roads.
“Please use caution when traveling, as there may be significant road debris, downed trees or tree limbs, low-hanging utility lines, and traffic light outages impacting our roadways,” the township posted.
There was also a chance of thunderstorms Wednesday after 8 p.m. and on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
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