An EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 100 mph damaged homes in Burlington County, New Jersey, leaving Raymond Russell looking at a roof that had been partly ripped from the house he has lived in for almost 50 years. The National Weather Service surveyed the area the following morning and said the tornado carved a path about 1.5 miles long.
Russell, 84, said, “I'm 84 years old. I've lived here almost 50 years. I don't know when it's done whether I'll stay,” after the storm tore through Old York Road in Chesterfield. Part of his roof landed in a neighbor's yard, and a barn with equipment inside collapsed down the road, while multiple homes on Orchard Drive were also damaged.
By the time crews were out repairing the damage, the storm's footprint was already clear: trees were toppled, power lines were down, and PSEG crews spent the day working on damaged poles and lines. No injuries were reported, which made the destruction easier to count than to absorb, especially for the people left staring at broken roofs and missing shingles.
The complicating part was that not all of the damage came from the tornado itself. Sarah Johnson said the storm brought both straight-line wind damage and tornado damage, a mix that can spread destruction beyond the narrow path the National Weather Service later identified in the Old York Road area. She also said New Jersey's sixth tornado of the year occurred in this storm, and that the November timing was unusual because tornadoes are typically seen in the spring and summer.
That leaves the cleanup as the next measure of the storm's reach. The roof can be replaced, and the poles and lines can be repaired, but the question Russell was left with is more personal: whether the house he has lived in for nearly half a century will still feel like home when the work is done.
