Storm weather hit coastal New Jersey on Saturday, flooding roads and some homes as a nor’easter pushed dangerous conditions across the U.S. Northeast. In Sea Bright, Brian Kelly said the borough was bracing for winds up to 50 mph and flooding that could reach 6 feet on some streets.
The National Weather Service said the storm would bring major coastal flooding to the Mid-Atlantic Coast over multiple high tide cycles through the weekend. It warned residents to prepare immediately for significant inundation in low-lying areas near the shore, including roads underwater and impacts to homes and businesses.
Sea Bright and Manasquan
Officials in Sea Bright expected flooding to start Saturday and worsen by midday, and Kelly said the town would open its recreation center for evacuees. He said, “It’s going to be worse than average. We do have probably one or two flooding events a year, sometimes more, sometimes less, but I think this one will be closer to an Irene-scale flooding event.”
In Manasquan, Mayor Mike Mangan said he expected “a lot of water in the streets for a long time,” and a voluntary evacuation had already been issued in some low-lying areas. Water also flooded the streets in Surf City and inundated some homes.
Wind, outages and travel
More than 70,000 customers were without electricity in the U.S. Northeast on Saturday as the storm moved through. Forecasters warned that gale winds could down trees and heavy rain could put roads underwater, while Matthew Belk said, “It’s definitely going to be a case of the closer to the coast you are, the more impacts from the storm you’re likely to see.”
Belk said leaves still on the trees could add to the risk of downed limbs and power outages. Peak wind gusts could approach 60 to 65 mph on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket on Friday night and Saturday, while Boston could see 50 to 55 mph and farther inland gusts could reach 35 to 40 mph.
Travel was already taking a hit, with concerts canceled on Friday and Saturday and dozens of flights into airports in Boston, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard canceled. Along the Atlantic coasts of New Jersey and Delaware, gusts could reach 60 mph, with southeastern Connecticut and eastern Long Island, New York, seeing almost as much.
For residents in the hardest-hit shore towns, the practical next step is to stay alert around the next high tides and stay away from flooded streets that local leaders expect to keep filling and draining through the weekend.
