Pine Barrens Tribune June 6, 2020-June 12, 2020

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Vol. 4 – No. 38 ♦

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FR EE

June 6, 2020 – June 12, 2020

DAMAGING DERECHO

Hired Health Experts, DOH ‘Whistleblowers’ Target Pandemic Toll in N.J. Nursing Homes Commissioned Report Vies with Letter from ‘Insiders’ to be Definitive Source on State of Unreadiness Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

A tree is uprooted near a storm drain and basketball net off Ridgeway Lane in Southampton Township.

Rare, Intense and Long-lived Thunderstorm Complex Causes Significant Tree Damage Leading to Power Loss By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—An intense line of arching thunderstorms that initiated June 3 in the vicinity of Erie, Pennsylvania and developed its shape from wind momentum pushing for ward, rapidly progressed southeastward Wednesday over a matter of just hours at speeds topping 100 mph, sweeping through the Pines during the early afternoon hours, producing widespread and significant wind damage. With the swath of concentrated wind damage spread out over 250 miles across New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the National Weather Service forecast office in Mount Holly, in conjunction with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, concluded the event was a derecho—with the last one affecting New Jersey in 2012. “It is a very rare, very specific event,” said Jonathan O’Brien, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, noting that such intense thunderstorm complexes, such as the one that came through Wednesday, have a “comma head that gets a cavity” and “bows out in front.” By definition, if the swath of wind damage extends for more than 250 miles, includes wind gusts of at least 58 mph along most of its length, and also includes several, wellseparated 75 mph or greater gusts, then the event may be classified as a derecho, according to a website posting from the Storm Prediction Center.

A 72-mph wind gust was observed in Waretown, while a 92-mph wind gust was reported in Surf City. Philadelphia International Airport reported a 68-mph wind gust. The Pine Barrens falls inbetween these observation stations. The highest observed wind gust in Burlington County, according to O’Brien, was reported in Jacksonville (67 mph). The damage seen June 3 from the derecho resulted in widespread power outages, with some areas not expected to see full restoration until sometime over the weekend. A second severe thunderstorm cluster, that included a supercell thunderstorm, prompted the National Weather Service to issue a tornado warning for several counties, including west-central Burlington County, and produced additional damage during the late evening hours of June 3 in the southern portions of the area. However, O’Brien told this newspaper that while the weather bureau is still evaluating storm reports it has received, so far, there has “been no indication that a tornado touched down.” Some of the most significant damage, locally, from the derecho that happened earlier in the day occurred in the vicinity of Ridge and New roads and along Route 70 in Southampton Township. Several tree branches fell on a home in the 100 block of Ridge Road, ripping off part of its side. A neighboring home’s front yard was littered with downed tree branches,

including one that blocked driveway access to the home. Downed wires forced the closure of New Road. According to a Hampton Lakes fire policeman directing traffic in the vicinity at midafternoon, one set of downed wires was still live and burning the asphalt. He warned locals accessing their homes to not drive past cones set up on the roadway. This newspaper found several locations of felled trees and branches on New Road, and in developments off the road. According to the National Weather Service, multiple trees were also downed by the storm in Southampton near the intersection of Route 70 and Old Red Lion Road, and trees were also uprooted near Route 70 and Huntington Drive. Route 206 was closed in Southampton between Route 38 and South Pemberton Road due to fallen power poles. Power poles were also toppled on Eayrestown Road. Evesham, Medford, Medford Lakes and Pemberton also reported that numerous trees were felled in the municipalities from the storm. Trees also blocked Route 9 for a time in Southern Ocean County and southeastern Burlington County. “We had some tremendously powerful thunderstorms move across the state yesterday,” said Democratic Governor Phil Murphy during a June 4, 1 p.m. press briefing. “It had more intensity in See DERECHO/ Page 9

TRENTON– It is no secret that nursing homes, or “post-acute care settings” as they are referred to in New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) parlance, have become the prime breeding grounds for the COVID-19 infection among both their patients and staff, accounting for roughly half of the nearly 12,000 Coronavirus deaths that have occurred so far in the state. But just how ill-prepared the NJDOH was to cope with the emergency created by the Coronavirus pandemic where nursing homes were concerned has suddenly come into the spotlight with the release this past week of two distinctly different documents. One is a letter purportedly written by department insiders to state Senate leaders revealing their unsuccessful attempts to oppose a decision made in March to release hospital patients testing positive into the care of nursing homes, and the other is a report from a major health consulting firm that was commissioned by the agency itself, entitled “Recommendations to Strengthen the Resilience of New Jersey’s Nursing Homes in the Wake of COVID-19.” The report, released June 3 by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, was compiled by Manatt Health to “undertake a rapid assessment of the state’s COVID-19 response” with emphasis on the impact of COVID-19 on nursing home residents and staff. Manatt was assigned the task of providing the state with a set of actionable recommendations aimed at improving the quality, resilience and safety of the state’s long-term care (LTC) delivery system now and for the future following a threeweek review in May. The anonymous writers of the denunciatory letter, which was addressed to Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney and Senate Republican leader Tom Kean Jr., and the Bipartisan Review and Recovery Committee to Investigate COVID-related crises, claimed to represent divergent political perspectives. The writers identified themselves mostly as “members of the Democratic Party who have decided to blow the whistle on this tragedy, despite our personal politics.” T he fou r-page missive charges that “leadership failures” on the part of state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli “led to See HEALTH/ Page 6

INDEX Here’s My Card............ 13

Local News.................... 2

Job Board.................... 14

Marketplace................. 15

Worship Guide............. 12

****ECRWSS**** LOCAL POSTAL CUSTOMER

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