Tornado: Update

Damaging winds that passed through a Burlington County town were a tornado, the National Weather Service has confirmed.

The winds, which reached speeds of about 70 mph, were part of severe thunderstorms that passed through the Hainesport area on Monday afternoon, said Arthur Kraus, a meteorologist with the weather service in Mount Holly.

The tornado, like others that hit New Jersey last month, was relatively weak -- classified as F0 on a scale that goes to F5.

But an elderly Lumberton woman was killed outside a bowling alley Monday afternoon when the winds snapped off a 20-foot treetop that struck her in the head.

Doris J. Smith, 77, was taken to Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly, where she was pronounced dead a short time later. The treetop also smashed into three cars at the Holly Bowl, including Smith's.

State Police Sgt. Frank Moore, who called the death a freak accident, said the treetop "blew about 100 feet across the parking lot before it hit (Smith) and went on for another 100 feet."

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Author: NBC10