Windy Wildwood

Winds Howl, Cause Damage At Jersey Shore
Trashcans Thrown Around By Wind

POSTED: 3:59 pm EST January 18, 2006
UPDATED: 4:16 pm EST January 18, 2006

WILDWOOD CREST, N.J. -- The high winds left many residents of the Jersey Shore amazed and scared Wednesday morning.

"The wind was just howling, it was just tremendous," said Lou Abbatiello, of North Wildwood, N.J.

The sky wasn't falling in Wildwood Crest Wednesday morning, but pieces of the roof at the Bristol Plaza Motel were.

"I was surprised to see this. It's crazy," Abbatiello said.

Mother Nature left a large chunk of the motel's roof dangling and tore siding off a house in West Wildwood as wind gusts close to 60 mph pounded the Jersey Shore.

"My whole building where I live was rattling. It was howling. There were trashcans flying. They were taking off -- I mean just shooting. It was unbelievable," Abbatiello said.

Torrential rain also flooded streets in the Wildwoods and forced drivers to deal with a wave of weather woes.

"It's really bad down here today. Last night was really, really bad," said Bernadette Money, of Wildwood, N.J.

In Atlantic City, casinos have security to make sure they don't get ripped off, but even Donald Trump couldn't stop the wind from dealing a damaging blow to a sign on his casino Wednesday.

In western Atlantic County, trees were toppling.

"The storm just brought the tree up out of its roots and knocked it against the house," said Jeanette Pratt, of Weymouth Township, N.J.

Powerful gusts made a mess of Jeannette Pratt's front yard.

"It just dented the gutter and we're thankful nobody got hurt," Pratt said.
Copyright 2006 by NBC10.com. All rights reserved