9 days later, South Jersey still cleaning up after storm

WASHINGTON TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- It's been over a week since last week's storms and many neighborhoods in South Jersey are still nowhere near back to normal.

Today local and state leaders met to figure out how to make that happen.

Piles and piles of debris still liter many South Jersey streets.

Steve Maiorana of Washington Township says, "Branches, really everywhere. We were fortunate that nothing hit the house."

It's been nine days since a storm tore through South Jersey. But today several roads are still closed.

Crews are still at work trying to get everything back to normal, and the piles of debris aren't going anywhere fast.

Washington Township's mayor, Barbara Wallace, tells us, "It may be five homes on your street and they may miss yours because the truck is full and they have to go back. So, I just ask for patience. We are getting around to it."

Today state and local officials met to come up with a cleanup plan. The top priority right now is assessing the damage in hopes that the state can qualify for a presidential disaster declaration through FEMA.

Terrence Brody from Governor Christie's Office of Recovery and Rebuilding explains, "It provides much needed funding to help with a cleanup on this scale."

For homeowners, after days without power many are still trying to cleanup.

Maiorana says, "You don't expect that kind of severe weather around here. We get a lot of nuisance stuff - the heat and the snow. But never usually destruction like this."

Local officials tell us it could take months before things get back to normal.