Flash Flood — Cumberland, New Jersey

2011-08-14 · near Stow Creek Lndg, Cumberland, New Jersey

Event narrative

Thunderstorms with repeated torrential downpours caused flash flooding of roadways and streams in the western part of Cumberland County and affected Upper Deerfield Township and Bridgeton the hardest where two dams failed. This led to the evacuation of residents along the Cohansey River in Bridgeton, A county state of emergency was also declared. Over a dozen roadways were flooded and evacuations and water rescues occurred. Major roadways that were flooded and closed included State Routes 49 and 77. Many farm fields were submerged. Other hard hit municipalities included Greenwich, Stow Creek, Hopewell and Shiloh. Crops were also damaged, especially canning tomatoes. Damage was estimated at 20 million dollars.

In Upper Deerfield Township, the torrential downpours started a domino effect of dam failures along the Cohansey River. Seeley Lake was breached along Finley Road. The road was destroyed as the lake completely emptied. Downstream, the surge of water caused Sunset Lake to breach at West Park Drive in Bridgeton. This lead to the evacuation of approximately 150 residents along the Cohansey River within the city. A shelter was opened on Buckston Road. An approximately 1250 foot breach occurred along the river that flooded the Raceway within the Bridgeton City Park. The Cohanzick Zoo along the river was also flooded, but no animals were injured and the zoo itself was not seriously damaged. Flooding along Sunset Lake also led to the washout of a 75 foot by 100 foot section of Beebe Run Road within the city. Event precipitation totals included 10.82 inches in Upper Deerfield and 10.63 inches in Seabrook.

Wider weather episode

A series of thunderstorms preceding a cold front dropped three to seven inches of rain across a wide swath of New Jersey (less along most of the coast) from overnight on the 13th into the day on the 14th. But in southern Gloucester, Eastern Salem and Western Cumberland County, rainfall amounts reached seven to eleven inches. Scattered thunderstorms occurred into the 15th and morning of the 16th. This slowed the recession of rivers and streams in the state. The combined event caused severe flash flooding with dam breaks in southwestern New Jersey and flash flooding and flooding across central and northern New Jersey. Damage estimates reached around 25 million dollars, most of which occurred in Salem and Cumberland Counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.4500, -75.4200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 346323. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.