Jersey Shore flooding forces motel rescues and closes roads

On Saturday in Egg Harbor Township, responders rescued nine adults and a dog from flooded rooms at the Travel Inn and New Sea Breeze motels, police told The Philadelphia Inquirer. In Atlantic City, crews also rescued trapped drivers, the newspaper reported. These were the immediate consequences of a coastal storm whose warnings had begun earlier in the week along the Jersey Shore, the area marked 1 on the map.

The first coastal flood warning for Ocean County went out Tuesday afternoon, forecasting inundation near shorelines and tidal waterways. By Friday, forecasts identified the weekend morning high tides as periods of concern. The governor’s office declared an emergency effective at 5 p.m. Friday in Ocean County and in Atlantic, Cape May and Monmouth counties. Manasquan recommended voluntary evacuation for residents of non-elevated buildings in low-lying, flood-prone areas, Star News Group reported. Some Ship Bottom residents evacuated on foot that day, according to WHYY.

On Saturday, emergency crews in Sea Bright rescued a woman and her dog from a vehicle in floodwater, according to ABC7 reporting cited by the Associated Press. Separately, Governor Mikie Sherrill said responders rescued dozens of people from homes and vehicles in the Atlantic City area that day, WHYY reported. That broader tally should not be added to the individual rescues. WHYY reported road closures in Ship Bottom and Sea Bright; Ocean City officials told the Inquirer that the morning high tide temporarily closed bridges into town. Monmouth County reported 2,500 residents without power that day and said restoration coordination was underway.

On Sunday, the weather service in Mount Holly warned, “Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.” The Inquirer reported Sherrill’s account of severe dune loss in Atlantic City and Brigantine. Wildwood’s mayor told the newspaper that flooding contributed to multiple fires after water poured over bulkheads Saturday morning. WHYY reported on September 27 that no New Jersey deaths had been reported; the wider reporting reviewed for this story also contained no reports of injuries.

In Cape May, the Lobster House remained closed because of flooding, the Inquirer reported Sunday. Its owner said cleanup would require washing and disinfecting surfaces and replacing carpeting. For residents, even getting to work had required adjustments. Atlantic City resident Damere Kellum, a dispatcher at Atlantic City Linen Supply, told WHYY that flooded intersections forced him to change his scooter route Saturday: “It’s flooded all over there, so I had to come this way just to get to work.”

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