By AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Sep. 30, 2021 8:53 PM EDT
More than 1,000 miles away from where Hurricane Ida made landfall, Thomas Ash and his family took shelter as the far-traveled tropical rainstorm spurred an onslaught of severe weather across the Northeast.
While a "bubble" seemed to protect his home in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, his neighbor's house wasn't as lucky.
On Sept. 1, 2021, Tropical Rainstorm Ida charged into the Northeast, dumping flooding rainfall and churning up an outbreak of tornadoes. Of the 82 lives that Ida claimed, at least 52 were from the region, according to NBC News.
One of the tornadoes that Ida powered struck Mullica Hill, located within Harrison Township, tracking 12.6 miles over a course of 20 minutes with a width of 400 yards. The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey, estimated the tornado to have been of EF3-strength, with maximum winds of 150 that tore off roofs, uprooted trees and knocked over walls.
"I couldn't believe it," Ash told AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline. "It looked like a bomb went off."
At least 36 homes were condemned. While it produced extensive damage, there were only two minor injuries, and no lives were lost -- something that Ash and his neighbors are celebrating.
Thomas Ash, woodworker and survivor of the EF3 tornado that tore through Mullica Hill, New Jersey, on Sept. 1, tells AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline about the plaque made for his neighbors.
In his workshop, Ash engraves wooden plaques with the words "We survived the tornado of 09/01/2021 6:20 PM," the design transferred from his computer to a laser printer.
The first one he made was a gift to his neighbor to help him remember the event, Ash told Angeline.
"It means a lot to me. Especially for my neighbors, because they suffered all the damage. Like my wife said, we had a bubble over our house," Ash told Angeline.
The design for the plaque is transferred from Thomas Ash's computer to a laser printer.
After he posted it on Facebook, requests for the plaque started pouring in.
"Everybody likes it, so I figured I'd make more," Ash said. While he's only been using a laser printer for two years, he's been woodworking for 60 years.
Community support after the tornado has been keeping the town going, much to the gratitude of Harrison Township Mayor Louis Manzo. Pride, Manzo said, didn't even begin to describe how he felt.
"Armies of volunteers showing up on a daily basis. Literally, just with gloves and saying, 'Where do I go? What should I do?' Just showing up in neighborhoods like this and open areas that were devastated," Manzo said. "So the support from the community, and the region, has been incredible."
In the neighboring town of Wenonah where multiple trees were damaged and uprooted, Mayor John Dominy said he's expecting a large community effort during the fall and spring to plant new trees.
"Watching a tree come down is like losing an old friend. We will replant ... but we're going to replant not for us. For our grandchildren," Dominy told Angeline. "They'll have the joy of playing under a 100-year-old tree one day too.
Related:
Reporting by Jullian Angeline.
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