Coastal Flood — Eastern Cape May, New Jersey

1998-01-28 to 1998-01-29 · Eastern Cape May, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

An intense northeaster pounded the New Jersey Shore with tidal flooding, beach erosion, strong winds and rain on the 28th. Conditions were progressively worse farther south along the New Jersey shore. While Monmouth County escaped with some minor tidal flooding and light rain, Cape May County was rocked with moderate to locally severe flooding, heavy rain and wind gusts in excess of 60 mph. A limited state of emergency was declared in Avalon, North Wildwood and Stone Harbor. No serious injuries were reported. Preliminary damage estimates were fifteen million dollars, most of which occurred in Cape May County. The low pressure system (Northeaster) was in the Gulf Coast States the morning of the 26th and moved to near Savannah, Georgia the morning of the 27th. The low intensified as it moved very slowly north along the Atlantic Coast during the day and the night of the 27th. At 7 a.m. EST on the 28th, the northeaster was located near Virginia Beach, Virginia and then moved eastnortheast during the day. By the next morning, it was about 450 miles east of the southern New Jersey coast.The worst damage occurred during the morning high tide on the 28th in the southern part of the state as the heavy rain, strong and sometimes damaging winds coincided with the high tide. While heavy rain and strong winds persisted into the afternoon, the rain was lighter by the evening high tide and the winds were starting to shift to the north. Mainly minor tidal flooding occurred during the evening high tide on the 28th and the morning high tide on the 29th. High tides the morning of the 28th were 8.7 feet above mean low water at Stone Harbor (4.0 feet above normal) and 7.6 feet above mean low water at Atlantic City (2.7 feet above normal). Tidal departures farther north along the shore averaged around 2 feet. The highest wind gusts included 65 mph in Delaware Bay, 64 mph in North Wildwood and 56 mph in Waretown in Ocean County. Storm rainfall totals included 4.59 inches in Stone Harbor, 2.82 inches at Cape May County Courthouse, 2.52 inches in Absecon, 2.31 inches at the Atlantic City Marina and 1.55 inches in Dennis Township. Cape May County suffered the worst damage with this northeaster. During the morning high tide, all access roads to the barrier islands were closed. Even the U.S. Route 9 Beesleys Point Bridge connecting Upper Township and Somers Point was closed. Avalon, North Wildwood and Stone Harbor declared limited states of emergency. The National Guard deployed troops in North Wildwood, Strathmere and Wildwood The winds were strong enough to force the suspension of service on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry after gusts reached 65 mph on Delaware Bay. The damaging winds tore down trees and power lines. About 2,500 homes and businesses lost power. Dunes were breached in Strathmere, Sea Isle City and Cape May Point. In Sea Isle City, the dunes were washed away or destroyed along the first twelve blocks at the north end of the municipality. Whale Beach was hard hit. Waves broke onto Landis Avenue. Landis Avenue was closed between 4th and 8th streets because of sand and debris. The geotubes were exposed at the south end of Sea Isle City. Erosion caused the collapse of the Townsends Inlet Bridge that connects Sea Isle City with Avalon. About 420,000 cubic yards of sand were lost along the shore. In Strathmere, a breach at Commonwealth Avenue isolated the community (without any emergency services) during the day. About 100 yards of dunes were leveled and about five yards of beach were lost. At Cape May Point, the South Cape Meadows dunes were breached and caused flooding in Cape May Point and Lake Lilly. About 200,000 cubic yards of sand were removed by the surf. The flooding in the Wildwoods was described as the worst in six years. Damage in these communities alone was estimated at 4 million dollars. Sixteen West Wildwood residents were evacuated as waist high water flooded their homes. Two bulkheads snapped. One of the strongest reported wind gusts with the northeaster, 64 mph, occurred in North Wildwood. Shingles were blown off homes and signs knocked down. Several cars were also destroyed. The surf carved 8 foot drops along the shore. In Avalon, an estimated 100,000 cubic yards of sand were washed away. In Stone Harbor, the entire line of dune fencing was destroyed as were dozens of sets of beach steps. In Ocean City, seven cars became trapped in high water after driving around barricades. The pounding surf created two to five foot cliffs along the ocean and flattened the dunes. In Atlantic County, both the White Horse (U.S. Route 30) and Black Horse (U.S. Route 40) Pikes in and out of Atlantic City were closed for more than four hours the morning of the 28th. The Eastbound lanes of the Black Horse Pike were closed again the evening of the 28th. Several other roads were closed due to bayside tidal flooding in Egg Harbor Township, Absecon, Atlantic City and Pleasantville. Sections of U.S. Route 9 in Linwood and County Road 152 in Somers Point and Longport were also closed. Along the oceanside, erosion took a heavy toll. In Margate 50 to 90 percent of the dunes vanished or suffered damage. In Brigantine about 1,000 feet of dune fencing was lost. In Ventnor, the ramp to the beach washed away and the ocean carved huge chunks out of the dunes. Atlantic City lost about 3 feet of its beach and vertical drops of 3 to 4 feet were created in Absecon and Brigantine.In Ocean County, severe erosion at Ortley Beach between 6th and 7th avenues left about 6 to 12 condominiums vulnerable to future storms. Some street flooding was reported in bayside neighborhoods in Southern Ocean County including Long Beach Boulevard in Beach Haven. In Monmouth County, minor flooding was reported on the bay side of Sea Bright. The worst damage was caused by erosion as much of the sand was gone from the beach side of Sea Bright. In Sandy Hook, about 80 percent of the sand pumped into a critical zone was lost. The Gateway National Recreational Area's Sandy Hook Unit was closed for several hours because of debris and sand on the roadways.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5630659. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.