ERMA — Several Lower Township homes sustained severe structural damage when trees fell into them May 12, Lower Township police reported.

The township, which experienced a lashing from a coastal storm, that caused power outages for several hours. The police department itself sustained an outage, after it experienced a problem with its back-up generator.

All 9-1-1- calls were transferred to the Cape May County Emergency Dispach Center with 9-1-1- calls being relayed to Lower Township including one of a cardio-pulmonary resuscitation in progress in Green Creek, Middle Township.

Normal phone lines were temporarily transferred to the Cape May Police Department.

The county’s Incident Command Vehicle was placed on standby for local use.
A live electrical wire went down on a school bus for a short period of time.

There were no children onboard at the times, however the driver was able to drive the bus from underneath the wire after officers arrived on scene.

Officers also responded to a multi-vehicle motor vehicle accident with injuries during the height of the storm.

The township’s Department of Public Works crews were busy throughout the day clearing downed trees with chain saws.

Several traffic lights were out and high tides were expected on the oceanfront at about 3 p.m. with high tide in the back bays about an hour later.

Due to the fact that the high tide from the morning was kept in by strong winds, police advised residents in low-lying areas that normally flood in minor to moderate high tides to move their vehicles to higher ground.

High winds and higher tides were expected through May 13 in the morning, according to Lower Township Police Chief Edward Donohue.