NJ’s Largest Dairy Farm Heavily Damaged in Mullica Hill Tornado

New Jersey's largest dairy farm, which is located in Mullica Hill, was heavily damaged as Wednesday afternoon's massive tornado cut across the middle of Gloucester County.

Wellacrest Farms, locally known as the Eachus family farm, lost several large silos and buildings that housed over 1,400 cows had their roofs torn off.

Marianne Eachus, who owns the farm with her husband, spoke with The Philadelphia Inquirer Thursday morning and she said as many as 150 cows were trapped in the rubble and three died.

When asked how many buildings were destroyed, Eachus told The Inquirer, "All of them."

Get our free mobile app

Wellacrest Farms is New Jersey's largest dairy farm. It sits on some 3,000 acres and produces over 17 million gallons of milk every year, according to a 2019 visit by The Courier-Post. The Eachus family bought the then-small farm in 1943 and it has grown since.

Severe weather associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through the region on Wednesday, which caused the National Weather Service Forecast Office that serves the greater Philadelphia area to issue an unprecedented 16 different tornado warnings along with countless warnings about flooding and flash flooding.

At 5:57 PM, a tornado warning was issued for central Gloucester County and the tornado was reported to be going through Mullica Hill at 6:22.

Numerous houses were demolished or seriously damaged in other sections of Mullica Hill. Miraculously, only one person was injured within the town.

Crews with the National Weather Service were out Thursday investigating the damage to determine exactly how strong this tornado was.