Flood — Sussex, New Jersey
2011-08-28 to 2011-08-29 · near Flatbrookville, Sussex, New Jersey
Event narrative
Flooding affected Branchville, Frankford, Hampton, Hardyston, Newton, Ogdensburg and Vernon the hardest in Sussex County. Flooding forced the closure of numerous roadways in the county including U.S. Route 206 as well as state and county routes 94, 15, 23, 517 and 628. Branchville was literally cut off after flooding occurred along the Dry Brook. About 100 people were evacuated within the Borough. Half a dozen bridges were either damaged or totally washed out. In Vernon Township, eight families were cut off after another bridge washed out. Four bridges were also washed out in Frankford Township.
The Flat Brook at Flatbrookville had major flooding and its second highest crest since Hurricane Diane in 1955. The brook was above its 6 foot flood stage from 810 a.m. EDT on the 28th through 404 p.m. EDT on the 29th. It crested at 10.59 feet at 1215 a.m. EDT on the 29th.
Event rainfall totals included 7.93 inches in Wantage Township, 7.87 inches in Hardyston Township, 7.33 inches in Woodbourne, 7.17 inches in Andover Township, 6.69 inches in Vernon Twp and 6.53 inches in Montague Township.
Wider weather episode
Irene produced torrential downpour rains that resulted in major flooding and a number of record breaking crests on area rivers, tropical storm force wind gusts with record breaking outages for New Jersey utilities, one confirmed tornado and a three to five foot storm surge that caused moderate to severe tidal flooding with extensive beach erosion over the weekend of August 27th and 28th. Irene is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in the history of New Jersey. Approximately one million people were evacuated from the coast and low lying areas prone to inland flooding throughout the state of New Jersey including all of Cape May County. Irene also caused record breaking outages to utility customers as around one and a half million people lost power throughout the state. Power was not fully restored until September 5th. The widespread flooding resulted in the second highest crest (highest was with Hurricane Floyd in September 1999) on record for the Raritan Basin, but the highest crest on record for many other river basins including the Passaic. Moderate tidal flooding occurred along the tidal Delaware River and Delaware Bay and minor to moderate flooding occurred farther north along the Delaware River. Moderate to severe tidal flooding occurred along the Atlantic Coast and Raritan Bay There were six direct deaths associated with Irene, all drownings. The deaths occurred in Salem County, Mercer County (two), Ocean County (two) and Morris County. Preliminary damage estimates in the whole state of New Jersey were near one billion dollars to approximately 200,000 homes and businesses. The closure of the Atlantic City casinos (only the third time in history) for three days caused an estimated 45 million dollars in lost revenue. The combination of wind and flooding forced the closure of about 350 main roadways in the state including sections of Interstate 287, the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. The flooding rains and winds damaged the corn, peach, pumpkin, tomato, pepper, cucumber, potato and squash crops and feared will damage the blueberry crop in 2012. Drug industry production fell the week of August 29th because of traveling problems. Free ice and water were distributed in locations with widespread power outages. The American Red Cross distributed over 1,000 clean-up kits and 100,000 meals and snacks.
Tropical storm force wind gusts overspread New Jersey during the late afternoon and evening of the 27th and persisted through the afternoon of the 28th. Peak wind gusts averaged around 50 mph inland and around 65 mph at the coast. The strongest winds associated with Irene occurred at two distinct times. The first surge occurred during bands of heavier rain during the evening of the 27th and early morning of the 28th. The second peak occurred during the afternoon of the 28th when skies were clearing and deeper mixing of the atmosphere brought stronger winds to the ground. Most of the inland peak wind gusts occurred at this time. The rain associated with Irene overspread New Jersey during the late morning on the 27th, fell at its heaviest during the evening of the 27th into the early morning of the 28th and ended during the early afternoon on the 28th. Event precipitation totals averaged 5 to 10 inches and caused widespread record breaking flooding. Many locations broke August's all time monthly rainfall records even before Irene arrived. Because the flash flooding and flooding blended into one, all flooding related Stormdata county entries were combined into one under flood events. The storm surge of 3 to 5 feet caused moderate to severe tidal flooding along the ocean side and moderate tidal flooding in Delaware Bay and tidal sections of the Delaware River. The tidal flooding was during the evening and overnight high tide on the 27th across southern New Jersey, Delaware Bay and the Delaware River, but with the morning high on the 28th in Northern New Jersey. The morning high tide coincided closer with the high tide cycle and caused most of the severe tidal flooding to occur there. Minor tidal flooding persisted in tidal sections of the Delaware River during the high tide cycles from the 29th through the 31st.
Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency on August 25th. New Jersey Transit rail, bus and light rail operations were suspended on the weekend of the 27th and 28th. Full transit service was not restored until Wednesday August 31st. In Cape May County, countywide mandatory evacuations were ordered on August 25th, and for residents the next day. Traffic on New Jersey State Route 55 south of Vineland, New Jersey Route 47 and New Jersey Route 347 were only allowed to head north leaving Cape May County.
All Atlantic County shore communities east of U.S. Route 9 including Atlantic City were placed under a voluntary evacuation at 8 p.m. August 25th and the following day a mandatory evacuation effective starting 6 a.m. EDT. All Atlantic City casinos were shut down as the city faced the first mandatory evacuation in history. About 1,500 National Guard troops had been deployed in the state to help with evacuations. In Ocean County, all of the barrier islands including Long Beach Island were under mandatory evacuation starting at 8 a.m. EDT on August 26th. To relieve evacuation traffic, toll operations were temporarily suspended on the Garden State Parkway south of the Raritan River and on the Atlantic City Expressway. The southbound lanes on the Garden State Parkway south of exit 98 were closed at 8 p.m. EDT on August 26th, while eastbound traffic was stopped on New Jersey State Routes 70 and Route 72.
Major flooding occurred on the Raritan, Millstone, Rockaway and Passaic Rivers. Record flows were reported at the Musconetcong River in Warren County as well as the Assunpink Creek in Mercer County and the Rancocas Creek in Burlington County. Flooding on the rivers lasted as long as September 5th. The flooding affected and closed numerous roads, including the heavily used Interstate 287 in Boonton when the northbound shoulder collapsed from the force of the Rockaway River. The Garden State Parkway flooded in Toms River near exit 98. On Monday August 29th, eighty roadways were still closed and thirty-six roadways were still closed on the 30th. Ninety-eight percent of the closed roadways were reopened as of September 1st. Coupled with a reduced transit schedule, travel was described as gridlock on the 29th Thousands of homes were also flooded, especially in Morris and Somerset Counties. Many northern New Jersey schools that were scheduled to open on the 29th were closed.
At the Trenton Train Station along Assunpink Creek, flooding impacted Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, SEPTA's Trenton Line, and New Jersey Transit's (NJT) Northeast Corridor Rail Line. Service was not fully restored to and through Trenton until August 31st. Irene cost NJT just under $10 million in lost revenue and damaged infrastructure. Numerous homes suffered structural damages from the winds, and limbs impacting their roofs.
In total, approximately 1.6 million customers of JCP&L and PSE&G throughout the state lost power. Two days after the storm, 500,000 PSE&G customers were still without power, down from a peak of about 928,000. By September 3 power had been restored to all but 750, but thousands of JCP&L customers were still without service. On September 2nd, 37,000 JCP&L customers were awaiting restoration of service. On Sunday September 5, power had been returned to last remaining 2,000 residents who suffered a power outage.
There was one confirmed tornado in Mercer County, but widespread tree wind damage (and damage to homes and vehicles when trees fell on them) occurred in every county. In addition, a few municipalities experienced stronger wind bursts that caused direct property damage. The strong winds forced the suspension of service on the Cape May Lewes Ferry. In Monmouth County, in Long Branch, the high winds damaged two roofs of an apartment complex on Ocean Boulevard. In Ocean County, an estimated 500 trees were knocked down. The SpongeBob ride at the Funtown Pier in Seaside Park was damaged. In Atlantic County, a piece of an exterior wall of the Borgota Hotel was blown off. In Gloucester County, a 61-year-old woman suffered a head injury after being struck by a tree.
The shore took a pounding from the coastal flooding and heavy surf. A 25-year-old and a 24-year-old man drowned in Point Pleasant (Ocean County) after going to the shore to view the storm. The average sand loss was about four to five feet high and one hundred fifty feet wide. Waves were estimated to reach as high as 12 feet as offshore seas reached 25 feet. There were numerous reports of dune fence damage and sand overwashes onto streets and boardwalks. Along the Raritan Bay side of Middlesex and Monmouth Counties, most of the vertical cuts were less than two feet and no breaches were reported. In Keansburg and Union Beach in Monmouth County low lying bayshore communities experienced tidal flooding. About 3,000 county residents were evacuated along Raritan Bay. Along the Atlantic Ocean side of Monmouth County, vertical cuts averaged 2 to 5 feet. In Spring Lake, about one and a half miles of the borough's boardwalk was damaged and closed. In Ocean County, vertical cuts averaged 2 to 4 feet north of Barnegat Light and 4 to 6 feet south of Barnegat Light. A dune cut was reported in Harvey Cedars. Dune washovers occurred in Brant Beach. In Beach Haven, dune cuts reached 10 feet and the geotubes at Merrivale Avenue were overtopped. No flood damage to homes was reported. The entrance to the Holgate Natural Area was impassable as stone and rubble were exposed. In Atlantic County, vertical cuts averaged 1 to 4 feet, but reached 6 feet in Brigantine. In Cape May County, vertical cuts averaged 2 to 4 feet. A couple of horizontal dune cuts occurred in North Wildwood and the top cap of a timber bulkhead was knocked off. In Cape May City, a horizontal dune cut occurred on Poverty Beach.
President Barack Obama initially declared the state a disaster area, making residents of Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic and Somerset Counties and made them eligible for federal aid. The declaration was later extended throughout the state.
The highest wind gusts recorded during Hurricane Irene were 75 mph at Cape May Ferry Terminal (Cape May County), 69 mph in Harvey Cedars (Ocean County), 69 mph in Tuckerton (Ocean County), 68 mph in Cape May Harbor (Cape May County), 66 mph at the Atlantic City Marina (Atlantic County), 66 mph in Ocean City (Cape May County), 65 mph in Point Pleasant (Ocean County), 58 mph in Atlantic City (Atlantic County), 58 mph in Sandy Hook (Monmouth County), 58 mph in Brick (Ocean County), 57 mph in Keansburg (Monmouth County), 55 mph in Barnegat Light (Ocean County), 55 mph at Lakehurst NAS (Ocean County), 55 mph at Point Point (Atlantic County), 55 mph in Seaside Heights (Ocean County), 53 mph at Wildwood (Cape May County), 52 mph in Belmar (Monmouth County), 52 mph in Bivalve (Cumberland County), 52 mph in Trenton (Mercer County), 51 mph at Ft Dix-Wrightstown (Burlington County), 50 mph in Wantage (Sussex County), 47 mph in Mount Holly (Burlington County) and 42 mph in Somerville (Somerset County).
Peak storm tides included 9.75 feet above mean lower low water in Sandy Hook (Monmouth County). Severe tidal flooding starts at 8.7 feet above mean lower low water. This was the third highest tide on record and highest tide since the December 1992 nor'easter. Other peak tides included 6.96 feet above mean lower low water in Atlantic City (Atlantic County), moderate tidal flooding starts at 7.0 feet above mean lower low water; 8.55 feet above mean lower low water in Cape May (Cape May County), severe tidal flooding starts at 8.7 feet above mean lower low water; 8.03 feet above mean lower low water at Reedy Island, New Castle County Delaware, moderate tidal flooding starts at 7.2 feet above mean lower low water and 9.89 feet above mean lower low water in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, moderate tidal flooding starts at 9.2 feet above mean lower low water. Along tidal sections of the Delaware River, Big Timber Creek flooded along the Gloucester and Camden County lines and about 300 homes in Burlington City (Burlington County) had flooded basements.
Hurricane Irene formed east of the Leeward Islands on Saturday the 20th. It moved northeast and passed over Puerto Rico overnight on the 21st. As Irene moved off the island, it intensified into a hurricane. Irene just bypassed the island of Hispaniola to its north and then passed over the Eastern Bahamas on the 25th as it reached category three hurricane strength. From the Bahamas, Irene moved nearly due north and slowly weakened to a category two hurricane on the 26th and a category one hurricane on the 27th. Irene made her initial landfall near Cape Lookout, North Carolina at 8 a.m. EDT on the 27th as a category one and then proceeded to the northnortheast. Irene went back over the Atlantic Ocean near the Virginia and North Carolina border at 7 p.m. EDT on the 27th. From there Irene paralleled the Delmarva Peninsula and the center passed about 15 miles east of Delaware between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. EDT on the 28th. Irene continued to slowly weaken and made her second landfall as a tropical storm on Brigantine Island, just north of Atlantic City, New Jersey at 535 a.m. EDT on the 28th. From there the center of Irene moved along eastern parts of Ocean and Monmouth Counties and was located near Tinton Falls Township in Monmouth County at 8 a.m. EDT on the 28th. At about 9 a.m. EDT the center of Irene passed over New York City.
Irene helped make August 2011 the wettest August on record for the state of New Jersey dating back to 1895. A new August monthly rainfall record of 16.10 inches was established in Trenton.
View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.0898, -74.9936)
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 344866. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.