HURRICANE IDA AND Mullica Hill analysis

INTRODUCTION

August 26, 2021 - September 1, 2021

On August 26, 2021, Tropical Depression Nine began to take shape in the Caribbean Sea. This disturbance would eventually strengthen into Hurricane Ida. She reached tropical storm status and gained her name later that day. By August 27th, Ida had strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, and made landfall over Western Cuba. After passing over Cuba, Ida continued to strengthen as she approached the United States. With maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane on August 29th, the 16-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Over the next several days, Ida diminished to a post-tropical depression and its remnants traveled northward along the Appalachian Mountains, towards the Mid-Atlantic. In the wake of the system, Ida's remnants caused widespread flooding from the deep south, all the way to New England. By September 1st, Ida had reached the area that our team members call home. Not only was there major flooding, but there also a tornado outbreak in parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The strongest tornado of that day touched down in southern New Jersey, specifically Mullica Hill. The National Weather Service rated this tornado as an EF-3, which has three-second wind gusts of 136-165 mph and deals severe damage such as; roofs and some walls torn from well-constructed houses; trains overturned; most trees in forested area uprooted; and heavy cars lifted and thrown. Other locations that were affected that day were Ambler, Bristol, Croydon, and Oxford Pennsylvania, Edgewater Park and Burlington, New Jersey, as well as Owensville and Annapolis, Maryland.