What started out as an unseasonably warm day with hints of sunshine peeking through the clouds turned into an afternoon of destruction for residents of a section of northern Gloucester County.

A violent storm, accompanied by powerful wind gusts, caused damage to about 50 homes, according to county officials. No injuries were reported. 

Though there were many rumors circulating that a tornado had touched down in the Pinetta area, where most of the damage occurred, Gloucester’s director of emergency services Creig Moore said the damage was a result of straight-line winds with gusts up to 63 miles per hour reported. “It was not a tornado,” Moore said. 

“There were about 12 to 16 homes with trees that caused moderate damage,” he said. “The rest (of the approximately 50 homes) had minor damage from falling limbs, blown debris and smaller trees.” 

Moore said homes along Pine Grove Road in P...