Hammonton Declares Local State of Emergency

 By MICHELLE BRUNETTI POST, Staff Writer
Hammonton’s Mayor Steve DiDonato called a local state of emergency Tuesday night at about 7:30 p.m., said town Business Administrator/Public Works Manager Jerry Barberio.

The designation meant public safety workers had to report to work if called, Barberio explained.

He and DiDonato spent much of the night helping at the town’s dispatch center, which operated on generator power.

Calls were mainly related to electric outages, and emergency responders set up small generators for several people with medical issues who are dependent on oxygen or ventilators, Barberio said. He said calls were heavy up to 11 p.m., and then people seemed to settle down and it became quiet.

Public works crews were busy cutting up downed trees to help open roads, but only if no electric wires were down in them. Those crews set up cones and closed off the street.

Barberio worked all night, went home to nap at about 8 a.m. and was back at work at 11 a.m., he said.

On Wednesday a big concern was a number of traffic lights that remained dark due to lack of electricity.

“It’s slowing everyone down,” he said.

Atlantic Blueberry’s Denny Doyle said his company did not lose electricity, so was able to keep packing lines and refrigeration going. Wednesday was the first day of packing for the frozen market, he said. Loss of electricity would have been a terrible blow for his company, he said.

In Mullica Township, multiple downed trees with electric wire entanglement left Pleasant Mills Road from Elwood Road to Nesco Road closed, said Chief John Thompson, as well as Green Bank Road from Pleasant Mills to the bridge.

That area is part of this Sunday’s Challenge Atlantic City Triathlon route, and it was unclear Wednesday if the event would need to change its plans.

Mullica Township Police Capt. Brian Zeck said there were several trees down in his yard alone.

“I don’t know what the winds were gusting at, but it felt more like hurricane force,” Zeck said.

On Tuesday night about 70 percent of the township was without power, but that went down to 30 percent or so Wednesday, mostly in the Sweetwater and Weekstown areas, said Thompson.

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