Inch by inch, region digs out from snow
Scott Anderson/Courier-Post
By SHRUTI MATHUR DESAI
Courier-Post Staff
Doug Kelly was busy with his shovel Sunday morning. But he wasn't clearing the sidewalk outside his salon, Blue, in Haddon Township. He was creating a huge pile of snow to make into a giant snowman.
"During the last snowstorm I saw an eight-foot snowman in Collingswood," said Kelly, dressed in a long-sleeved shirt with a warm fleece vest. "I think that if Collingswood could have a snowman then Haddon should have a snowman."
South Jerseyans learned to cope with the winter storm that dumped record-breaking amounts of snow in the region, with parts of Cherry Hill seeing just over 27 inches.
Saturday's snowfall, coupled with December's snowstorm, pushed this winter to the second snowiest on record, with 1995-96 pushing ahead by just under nine inches.
"It is possible we could get that 10 inches; we still have all of March left to go," said National Weather Service meteorologist Kristin Kline.
However, we may get a crack at whittling down that gap this week. Snow is predicted to start Tuesday night into Wednesday, Kline said.
Kline said her Saturday evening commute saw few other cars on the road and she heard that many people went to the grocery store by Thursday.
"I think December was a wake-up call for everyone that winter is here and folks were a little more prepared and more ready for it this time around," Kline said.
Thanks to early planning, most major roads were clear Sunday morning.
Camden County lifted a state of emergency by 10 a.m. Sunday and said that with the sun helping melt the snow, "all county roads will be cleared to blacktop."
Gloucester County's director of public works, Larry Haynes, had crews working from 6 p.m. on Friday until 8 p.m. on Saturday, and then waking up and starting again on Sunday at 7 a.m.
Haynes said early planning coupled with the storm's timing helped get the road cleared.
"We were seeing a lot less traffic, which was good," Haynes said of the weekend storm.
Most roadways in Gloucester County were "cleared to the asphalt" by lunchtime, Haynes said.
However, not all of South Jersey was as lucky.
Gov. Chris Christie urged residents to check on relatives who live in the barrier islands that have lost power. Wind gusts up to 50 mph made for blizzard conditions and, at the peak of the blizzard Saturday, more than 90,000 customers were without power, including as many as three-fourth of Cape May County's residents, officials said.
By 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Atlantic City Electric said about 43,000 homes and businesses were still without power -- the majority of them in Cape May County.
Convoys of dozens of utility trucks drove down the Garden State Parkway from Central and North Jersey to help.
Christie toured South Jersey coastal areas Sunday that were hit hard by the blizzard.
The governor said he expects to seek federal funds to help cover cleanup costs from the snowstorm, but a final decision hasn't been made. He has not decided to whether declare a state of emergency.
That would start the process of applying for federal aid.
Christie said he first must make sure that the state's costs exceeded $10.6 million and that snow totals were more than 90 percent of the previous record.
Travelers delayed by the weekend's storm started arriving Sunday as airlines began resuming operations into Philadelphia International Airport, except Southwest Airlines, which canceled all flight activity to Philadelphia on Sunday.
The airport reported a snowfall of 28.5 inches, said airport representative Victoria Lupica.
Both primary runways were open Sunday morning, with secondary runways opening just after noon, with no arrival or departure delays by Sunday afternoon, Lupica said.
"It helps that it is Sunday," Lupica said.
The Super Bowl plus the weather complicated matters for Domino's Pizza driver Jeff Gruberg, who delivered from Cherry Hill on Sunday.
"With the roads all slippery it's going to slow us down a bit," said Gruberg, as he ran out the door with a delivery. "It's also going to increase our deliveries, because people are not going to want to be out on the roads."
Morgan Corcoran, assistant manager for Domino's, said she also worked Saturday and the location was swamped.
Bags of wings filled three entire booths at P.J. Whelihan's in Cherry Hill, where Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest takeout days for the pub.
The weather didn't seem to affect attendance, but manager Lauren Moore said Super Bowl tends to be more of a house party day rather than a day to sit at the bar.
Steve Lott, of Marlton, and Brian Arcarl had their seats reserved early for the game, though, as an Eagles fan and a Giants fan, respectively, they were there more for the food and beer.
"You got to get a tune-up before you get to the game," said Lott, who started around 3 p.m.
Joe Palese of Haddon Township had his 47th birthday party canceled Sunday when friends traveling from Virginia got stymied by the storm. Instead he gathered with eight of his friends on Sunday to celebrate a belated birthday.
Despite the storm and the delayed plan, Palese still enjoyed the winter storm. He went out Saturday evening, taking the train into Philadelphia.
"There were a lot of people out, just walking and drinking," said Palese. "It was perfect."
Reach Shruti Mathur Desai at (856) 317-7828 or smathur@camden.gannett.com.
Additional Facts
SCHOOL DELAYS AND CLOSINGS
- Burlington County:
- Burlington City, Evesham, Lenape Regional, Shamong, and Tabernacle all had two-hour delays, while the Green Bank School was closed.
- Camden County:
- Audubon, Barrington, Berlin Township, Black Horse Pike Regional, Cherry Hill, Gloucester City, Gloucester Township, Haddon Heights, Haddon Township, Haddonfield, Magnolia, Mount Ephraim, Oaklyn, Pine Hill, Runnemede, Somerdale and Waterford had two-hour delays. Collingswood, Gibbsboro and Voorhees had 90-minute delays. Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill was closed.
- Gloucester County:
- Greenwich, Paulsboro, East Greenwich, Kingsway Regional, National Park, South Harrison, Westville and Woodbury Heights had one-hour delays. Elk, Delsea Regional and Pitman had a two-hour delay.
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