Coastal Flood — Camden, New Jersey

2011-04-16 to 2011-04-17 · Camden, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

The strong southeast wind up the Delaware Bay and River combined with the already high astronomical tides associated with the full moon and fresh water runoff from heavy rain to produce severe tidal flooding along the Delaware River and tidal sections of its tributaries during the evening and overnight high tide cycle on the 16th. The high tide at Reedy Point in Delaware established an all-time record high and the high tide in Philadelphia tied its all-time record high first established on November 25, 1950.

While tidal flooding affected all the counties along the Delaware River from Burlington south through Salem, the worst reported damage was in Gloucester and Salem Counties. In Salem County, the tidal flooding was reported to be the worst in over a decade.

In Salem County, the hardest hit communities included Carneys Point, Elsinboro and Pennsville. In Elsinboro Township, about twenty homes were surrounded by flood waters, but suffered no damage. A nursing home though was evacuated after flood waters entered the front door. Most of the remaining damage occurred to roadways. Sinnickson Landing Road (County Route 661) was open to only emergency personnel. Hook Road (County Route 551) had its west side severely undermined, but remained open through repairs. In Mannington Township, Pointers-Auburn Road (County Route 540) was closed over the Mannington Creek until late on the 17th after the east side of the roadway was undermined. Flood waters from the Salem Creek poured over New Jersey State Route 49 in Pennsville Township. In Gloucester County, forty homes and seven businesses suffered major damage and another forty homes suffered minor damage as flooding occurred along the Woodbury, Mantua, Big Timber and Repaupo Creeks. These creeks all empty into the Delaware River. Homes were damaged in West Deptford (Woodbury and Mantua Creeks) Westville (Southwest Branch of the Big Timber Creek), Woodbury (Woodbury Creek) and Logan (Repaupo Creek).

In Camden County, in Camden City, a man drove into the Cooper River near the 10th Street Bridge and drowned. Tidal related flooding extended as far inland as Haddon Township. The Cooper River flooded the Admiral Wilson Boulevard (U.S. Route 30) in Camden and Pennsauken. It also flooded both the North and South Park Drives between Collingswood and Pennsauken. Flooding along South Park Drive extended into Haddon Township. The Cooper River also engulfed the parking lot of the Cooper River Yacht Club in Collinswood. The Camden Golf Academy's driving range in Pennsauken was flooded. In Burlington County, the Delaware River flooded some streets around North Chester Avenue in Delran. Basements were flooded from the combination of the river flooding and high water tables. In Burlington City, the Delaware River backed into the city's drainage system. Wood Street was closed because of flooding near Delaware Avenue West.

The high tide at Reedy Point (Delaware) reached 9.26 feet above mean lower low water and established a new record. Severe tidal flooding starts at 9.2 feet above mean lower low water, At Philadelphia Pier 12, the high tide reached 10.49 feet above mean lower low water at 1254 a.m. EDT on the 17th. Severe tidal flooding begins at 10.2 feet above mean lower low water. The high tide reached 11.96 feet above mean lower low water in Burlington City (Burlington County) and 10.04 feet above mean lower low water at Palmyra (Burlington County). There are no established tidal reference categories at these latter two sites. The strong southeast winds persisted and reached its peak as the high tide was working its way up the Delaware Bay and Delaware River. The surface winds did not shift to the west until just before the high tide occurred in Philadelphia. Minor tidal flooding also occurred during the overnight high tide cycles on the 17th, 18th and 19th, but not on the same magnitude as the 16th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 301313. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.