Restaurants Feed Toms River Residents Cleaning Up From Storm

TOMS RIVER, NJ — As Toms River residents continue to clean up from the storm Tuesday, a group of Toms River restaurant owners gave them a lift on Wednesday, by delivering food in the neighborhoods where the damage was greatest.

James Capone of Capone's Gourmet Pizza in downtown Toms River organized the effort to spread some cheer — and pizza, tacos and coffee — in the neighborhoods off Bay Avenue where the storm brought down dozens of trees, damaged fences, pulled shingles off roofs and even turned over a travel trailer.

The National Weather Service's Mount Holly office on Wednesday said the damage in Toms River was caused by straight-line winds from the thunderstorm, which produced wind gusts in the 60- to 80-mph range.

"Small-scale circulations were seen and recorded immediately ahead of the advancing cold front, which in some cases induced waterspouts over a few back bays and oceanfront areas," the weather service said, "but were not strong enough to cause the damage experienced by numerous communities across the state."

Capone said photos and videos circulating of the damage prompted him to want to help.

"It's just devastating what's going on with this stupid virus, and now this stupid tornado," he said in his Facebook live video Tuesday night. "I'm seeing pictures I can't believe that I'm seeing in Toms River."

Damage happened in the the Melody Park and Twin Oaks neighborhoods and in the area of Pepper Tree, with hundreds of downed trees, private property damage to homes, cars, decks, pools, vehicles and fences.

The damage included a 24-foot travel trailer, which went airborne and was dropped, overturned, on a neighboring property, said Stacy Georgaklis, public information officer.

"Based on pictures, video clips, and eyewitness accounts provided by local emergency management officials and the general public, in conjunction with radar and other weather observations recorded when the storms moved through, the National Weather Service has concluded this damage was caused by straight-line winds associated with a strong cold front moving rapidly toward the coast Tuesday afternoon," the weather service said.

"The National Weather Service would like to thank local, state, and other public safety officials in providing valuable observations and eyewitness accounts which made this assessment possible," the service said. "These conclusions are preliminary and are subject to change if and when
additional information comes to our attention."

Personnel from the Toms River Public Works department, Toms River Shade Tree and the Parks, Buildings and Grounds, along with Toms River police, the township's volunteer fire departments and Ocean County sheriff’s officers responded to remove downed trees and reopen streets, Georgaklis said.

The debris filled 10 30-yard trash containers, and she said 24 township workers used cutting equipment and three roll-off trucks, three wheel loaders, two dump trucks, one bucket truck and eight utility vehicles to cut and remove brush and tree limbs, she said. Crews worked until 9 p.m. opening roadways and removing hazards, and resumed work at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

JCP&L crews worked on clearing trees from the power lines. At its height, there were more than 4,700 homes that lost power, according to the JCP&L outage website. Nearly all of the affected homes had power restored by 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Residents clearing brush and tree limbs from their properties are reminded to keep all vegetative material segregated from other debris, when placing it curbside for collection, Georgaklis said. Public Works will grind and recycle all vegetative debris. Other debris such as siding and fencing will be collected and taken to the Ocean County Landfill for disposal.

"Mayor Hill and the Township Council thank all of our township employees and first responders who reacted courageously yesterday after the storm," she said. "Our thoughts are with the Toms River residents whose homes and vehicles suffered extensive damage."

Capone, who rallied several restaurants to join him in the food donations that were delivered around lunchtime on Wednesday, said he was just looking for a way to help in a time that has been challenging enough without the severe damage caused by the storm on Tuesday.

"When Sandy happened, I had no power for two weeks. I couldn't do anything," Capone said. "I just want to give back."

The deliveries included pizza, tacos, chicken fingers, pastries and coffee, and fed both residents and workers cleaning up the area.

• Conca D’oro in Forked River
• Gringo’s Taco Shack in Ortley Beach
• La Scala Italian Pastry Shop in Toms River
• Lenny’s Pizza in Lavallette
• Linda’s Pizza in Toms River
• Office Lounge in Toms River
• QuickChek in Toms River

Restaurant owners along with Chief Little, Toms River police officers, Ocean County Prosecutor’s officers and Andy Chase from the 105.7 The Hawk helped by driving around the neighborhoods to disperse food and coffee, the police department said.

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