Coastal Flood — Eastern Atlantic, New Jersey
2009-11-13 to 2009-11-14 · Eastern Atlantic, New Jersey
Wider weather episode
A powerful nor'easter produced wind gusts to nearly 60 mph, widespread moderate tidal flooding, heavy rain and severe beach erosion along the New Jersey coast from November 12th through the 14th. Initial damage estimates were placed at 180 million dollars. By several measures this was one of the worst nor'easters to affect New Jersey since 1990. The Dolan Davis Nor'easter power ranking for Long Island Buoy 44025 ranked it 4th and the strongest since March of 1994. The Miller Storm Erosion Index and the Kraus and Wise Maximum Wave Run-up Index were both ranked second only to December 1992 nor'easter. The highest winds occurred from the afternoon of the 12th into the afternoon of the 13th. Several thousand people lost power. The heaviest rain fell on the 12th. The highest tides occurred with the morning high tide on the 13th except in Monmouth and Middlesex Counties where they occurred with the morning high tide on the 14th. This was the highest tides in central and southern New Jersey since either 1998 or 1996. Tidal departures reached up to four feet. Governor Jon Corzine declared a state of emergency in Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Ocean and Monmouth Counties on November 15th.
Cape May County reported the worst damage. A State of Emergency was declared on the 12th. There were no mandatory evacuations, but about 100 people left their homes in Ocean City and Wildwood. Shelters were opened in Avalon, Lower Township and North Wildwood. During the morning high tide on the 13th, nearly every bridge and causeway leading to the barrier islands were closed. Several of them were also closed on the 12th and 14th. The Townsend Inlet Bridge between Sea Isle City and Avalon was closed through the 15th after a work barge rammed into it. Motorists were rescued from flood waters in Avalon. The business districts in Avalon, Sea Isle City and Stone Harbor were all flooded. Homes in Sea Isle City also had homes that suffered first floor flooding. Significant erosion was reported in Ocean City, Sea Isle City (three dune breaches) and Avalon. In Ocean City along damage was expected to exceed 90 million dollars. The city lost 7 million cubic yards of sand. There was no beach left north of 21st Street in Avalon. The high winds damaged the roofs of three motels in Wildwood along with one large restaurant sign. Service on the Cape May Lewes Ferry was limited.
In Atlantic County, flooding caused the closure of the Black Horse (U.S. Routes 40 and 322) and White Horse (U.S. Route 30) Pikes near Atlantic City on the 12th and 13th. This caused huge traffic delays on the Atlantic City Expressway. Motels were also evacuated along the Black and White Horse Pikes. Dozens of motorists were rescued from flood waters along the White Horse Pike and U.S. Route 9. The high surf and coastal flooding caused about 10 million dollars in damage to the Atlantic City boardwalk and beach. In Atlantic City and also Ventnor, ramps to the beach and boardwalk were destroyed. Overall county damage was estimated at 16 million dollars.
In Ocean County, foundations to homes were exposed and threatened in Beach Haven on Cape May, Atlantic and Mercer Avenues in Harvey Cedars. New Jersey State Route 72, the route off and on Long Beach Island, the Dorland J. Henderson Memorial Bridge was closed around high tide on the 13th. Dunes were wrecked and bulkheads exposed on Long Beach Island. Damage on Long Beach Island was estimated at 30 million dollars. Waves breaking on Long Beach Island were measured at 9 feet. Most of the beach at Island Beach State Park was deeply eroded. The high winds blew the sand onto roadways adjacent to beaches and caused very large drifts in Seaside Park. In Monmouth County, Sea Bright was hit the hardest by the flooding. New Jersey State Route 35 and many side streets were flooded. The coastal flooding tides also caused flooding adjacent to the Navasink, Shrewsbury and Shark Rivers in Monmouth Beach, Long Branch, Belmar and Manasquan. Elsewhere tidal flooding was minor within Delaware Bay and tidal sections of the Delaware River. Some streets were flooded in Downe Township (Cumberland County).
The high tide reached 8.21 feet above mean lower low water in Cape May (Cape May County), the highest tide since the February 5, 1998 nor'easter. The high tide reached 7.57 feet above mean lower low water in Atlantic City (Atlantic County), the highest tide since March 19, 1996 nor'easter. The high tide reached 7.84 feet above mean lower low water in Sandy Hook. A higher tide occurred with the recent nor'easter on October 18th.
Other peak tides included 8.33 feet above mean lower low water in South Amboy (Middlesex County), 8.35 feet above mean lower low water in Keansburg (Monmouth County), 6.79 feet above mean lower low water in Sea Bright (Monmouth County), 7.7 feet above mean lower low water in Belmar (Monmouth County), 7.41 feet above mean lower low water in Absecon (Atlantic County), 7.53 feet above mean lower low water in Margate (Atlantic County), 7.62 feet above mean lower low water in Ocean City (Cape May County), 7.96 feet above mean lower low water in Sea Isle City (Cape May County), 7.69 feet above mean lower low water in Avalon (Cape May County), 8.49 feet above mean lower low water in Bivalve (Cumberland County), 7.65 feet above mean lower low water in Greenwich (Cumberland County), 7.78 feet above mean lower low water on Reedy Island (New Castle County, Delaware) and 8.70 feet above mean lower low water in Philadelphia.
Peak wind gusts included 59 mph at the Atlantic City Marina (Atlantic County) and Barnegat (Ocean County), 57 mph in Cape May (Cape May County), 55 mph in Tuckerton (Ocean County), 54 mph in Avalon (Cape May County) and Brant Beach and Harvey Cedars (Ocean County), 52 mph in Seaside Heights (Ocean County) and Ocean City (Cape May County), 51 mph in Wildwood and 47 mph at the Atlantic City International Airport.
The nor'easter was originally Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Alabama on the morning of the 10th. As Ida made landfall, it lost tropical characteristics and transformed into an extratropical low pressure system. On the morning of November 11th, the low pressure system reached southern Georgia and the next morning (12th) it was located over the coastal waters east of Wilmington, North Carolina. Of equal importance, was a high pressure system that moved across New England and the Canadian Maritimes from the 12th through the 14th. Its effects were threefold, it increased the difference in surface pressure (thus increased the winds), it blocked the low pressure system from moving offshore and provided a very long fetch of onshore flow. The extratropical low pressure system reached its maximum strength of around 995 millibars during the evening of the 12th as it was located just off of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. From there, the low pressure system slowly drifted off the North Carolina coast as it slowly weakened on the 13th and 14th.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 201003. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.