Atlantic City: Morning after one of the most intense tornadoes recorded in the history of New Jersey all but destroying the largest dairy farm in the state, the owner of Marianne and Wally each of them looked at each other and cried.
“What will we do?” They ask each other.
Only 12 hours before, the couple was having dinner when the weather warning warnings warned that tornadoes were near.
The cloud is intense and fast, then there is a sound like a train item, Marianne remembers.
They ran into the basement just in time for EF3 Tornado, one of the least eight who tore the parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania during the storm last week, to pass.
Almost three minutes passed, and it was gone.
When the owner of the Wellacrest farms at Mullica Hill, a suburb of Philadelphia, came out of their basement along with other families on their guesthouse, they saw that two large wheat silos they had fallen.
Some barns really reduced to concrete, the roof ripped off others, the equipment was destroyed, the fallen tree fell to an old farmhouse.
“There are only metals, wood, debris, everywhere,” each word.
And hundreds of cows stuck under collapsed barns.
Thirteen had died, a few dozen suffered more injuries.
A crew flushed milk when twister tore and only had a few seconds to hide and survive.
They saw several cows swallowed by the funnel.
Up to 100 cows still missing Monday morning.
Somehow, there was no additional death on the dairy farm from the tornado.
But the storm also produced historical rain and a massive flood from the remnants of Ida storm which killed at least 50 people in six eastern countries, more than half in New Jersey alone.
The rain of wetting comes on agriculture and hours, each and his family, joining neighbors and friends, working to corramme cattle back into a pen.
Wellacrest Agriculture was founded in 1943 by parents of Marianne’s husband, Wally each.
More than 20 years ago, Marianne and Wally took it and still run it with the help of their children.
Wellacrest produces more than 17 million pounds of milk every year and works with other farmers to share and sell plants.
There are 1,400 cows on the property – about half flushed cow’s milk.
In the days after destruction, each family had seen the outpouring of support and assistance.
Local businesses carry excavators to help free cattle, others help with electricity, plumbing, even more help eliminate debris.
Cows have food, water, and somehow, the entire milking operation has returned.
Megan Miller, a family friend whose husband, Brandon, works on the farm call it “blessing.” Millers got a call from their families that Tornado had hit them directly.
“I just cried,” he said when they drove and saw his destruction.
A GofundMe began by fellow Hillary Stecher farmers reaching $ 60,000 on Monday morning.
The aim is $ 1 million.
Agriculture has insurance of course, but each says he doesn’t know whether it will cover what is missing.
“It takes the village to rebuild operations like this which has almost completely reduced in a few minutes,” Stecher said.
Each remains full of hope.
“I don’t know how we will rebuild,” each word.
“We have no choice.
We have to.
Or all this is nothing.
Will we just walk? We can’t, this is our home.”