News 12 field crew takes shelter in basement while tornado chasing
The pair turned off Interstate 195 at Exit 8 and headed south on Route 539, where they found shelter at a gas station and deli.
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A day of storm chasing led reporter Jim Murdoch and photojournalist Chris Logan to southwestern Monmouth County, where they went to intercept a severe storm heading their way from the Philadelphia area.
The pair turned off Interstate 195 at Exit 8 and headed south on Route 539, where they found shelter at a gas station and deli.
A rotating wall cloud was seen by the chasers several miles southwest of their location and winds began flowing into the storm. Shortly after, a tornado warning was issued for the region, and they quickly headed into the basement underneath Off the Grill deli.
No tornado touched down at their location, but hail fell fast and furious and coated the ground - up to the size of quarters.
Local emergency management reports from the region included flooding in Allentown by the dam and a possible tornado touchdown a few miles away in Chesterfield, Burlington County.
Attendants at the gas station saw several cracked windshields from drivers trying to escape the storm under the canopy.
“When the wind switched direction and began flowing into the storm, things got real in a hurry,” said Murdoch. “Our phones alerted us to the tornado warning, and it just happened to be in the direct path of our location, so I knew we needed to find a safe shelter.”
Murdoch and Logan were able to report live from the basement as hail fell all around them. There were no immediate reports of injuries in the Allentown or Upper Freehold Township area.
