Community Corner
Much of West Deptford Left Unscathed By Sandy
West Deptford has suspended emergency operations for Sandy, and the shelter at the high school is closing after minimal damage was found in the township.
While much of New Jersey, especially along the coast, was devastated by the arrival of the powerful nor'easter Sandy, the residents of West Deptford awoke on Tuesday morning to find that, for the most part, they had been spared by the storm.
The shelter at West Deptford High School was being packed up by late Tuesday morning, with volunteers and Red Cross officials preparing to leave. On Monday night, the high school gymnasium housed approximately 40 people. was able to provide a very safe and secure locale for people who were worried about flooding and other damage in their homes.
With the storm dying down by the morning, everyone was fed breakfast and sent home.When it became apparent that the storm had passed and damage was minimal, West Deptford officials asked for the shelter to be packed up by the afternoon so that school can re-open on Wednesday. Residents who were unable to return home for any reason were told to contact township officials, who would direct them to an open shelter.
Find out what's happening in West Deptfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Throughout the township, there were scatted leaves, small branches and some debris on the roads, but very little significant property damage. Joe Gill, director of the township's Office of Emergency Management (OEM), said that West Deptford fared much better this time around than during Hurricane Irene in August 2011.
“Last year, at the fire station that I was at alone, we had over 21 calls,” said Gill. “This year, between all four fire stations, we had just 21 calls in 12 hours.”
Find out what's happening in West Deptfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Gill noted that many areas, such as the mobile home park Willow Woods, that saw major flooding during past storms did not suffer the same fate this time around. All of the reports that the OEM received were for relatively minor incidents, such as downed trees or wires. There are no known injuries or fatalities in West Deptford relating to the storm.
Today, all there is left to do is clean up the debris that serves as a small reminder of yesterday's storm. Unlike most other towns up and down the state, West Deptford's clean-up will be fairly minimal. As of 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, PSE&G was reporting only isolated power outages in the township.
