Irene: Eight People Come to Township Shelter

Only eight residents have come to the township's emergency shelter at the Municpal Building—much fewer than the numbers seen during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, according to the Citizen Emergency Response Team members running it.

"At one point, we had eight people," said Glenn Van Lier, former township Mayor and CERT team member. "When we opened yesterday afternoon, there was already one family here. They stayed overnight."

The family, who hails from the Dukes Parkway East, knew their home would flood, Van Lier added. According to the reports the family gave him, their home has flooded at least four times in six years, Van Lier said.

"They knew their home was going to flood," he said.

Van Lier, who was township mayor during Hurricane Floyd, added that Irene didn't cause the extent of damage or displacement seen in 1999. Irene has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.

"We rescued people off rooftops during Floyd," he said.

With the second shift of CERT team members manning the shelter, it's luckily not been the constant influx of people seen during Hurricane Floyd. Still, the shelter will remain open until the rivers crest, Van Lier said.

"Even though the storm is gone, it takes a while for the rivers to go down," Van Lier said. "Thank God it wasn't that bad."