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Recovery Continues 6 Months After Devastating Tornado Tore Through Mullica Hill

MULLICA HILL, N.J. (CBS) -- Who could forget the scene exactly six months ago when a powerful tornado ripped across Mullica Hill, Gloucester County, leaving jaw-dropping damage in its wake?

Eyewitness News went back Tuesday to see how the recovery is going for residents who had their lives upended. The tornado destroyed some homes and left others with serious damage.

The twister that hit here was one of many that day that touched down in the region formed from the remnants of Hurricane Ida.

Specifically, the twister that hit this neighborhood was an EF-3, packing winds of up to 150 miles per hour.

The images from Sept. 1, 2021, looked more like something out of the midwest where tornadoes of this intensity are much more common.

Mullica Hill Tornado damage

The tornado that rolled through here leveled everything in its path, including a home on Salvatore Drive.

Other homes suffered serious damage and debris was sent flying in all directions.

Fast forward now to today.

Drone Watch 3 was over the very same neighborhood, and, what a difference half a year makes.

Many repairs have been made as some continue and will take a lot more time.

CBS3 talked with a worker who's rebuilding two homes in the area and renovating four others.

"It's still hard to believe. We're working hard to get these families back in. They're holding up OK, they're in a hurry to get back, their families are displaced. So I guess they're holding up the best they can and I'm just doing as much as I can as fast as I can," Bob Nocentino said.

When those remnants from Ida rolled through at least five people in our area were killed.

Fortunately, there were no deaths in Mullica Hill.

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