NEW JERSEY - Hurricane Irene: County by county reports of evacuations, flooding, damage
Published: Sunday, August 28, 2011, 3:46 PM Updated: Sunday, August 28, 2011, 3:46 PM
Enlarge Atlantic County evacuees fleeing from hurricane Irene outside the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton where they stopped for a rest at 5 am on their way to the Meadowlands. 8/27/11 (Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger) New Jersey braces for Hurricane Irene's arrival gallery (56 photos)
If you have any reports of major flooding, power outages or significant structural damage, please alert our newsroom by sending an e-mail to metro@starledger.com.
Check back later for more updates.
ATLANTIC COUNTY
• Officials criticize Atlantic City hospital's decision to remain open during the hurricane
• Gov. Christie dispels rumor of power, gas going out in Atlantic City
• Atlantic County officials call off evacuation efforts for fear of jeopardizing safety of rescue workers
BERGEN COUNTY
BURLINGTON COUNTY
CAMDEN COUNTY
• State troopers are working to rescue flooded motorists in two cars on Route 295 in Bellmawr, headed northbound. The cars are stuck in a flood at mile maker 28, according to State Police spokesman Sgt. Julian Castellanos.
• Going southbound, a tree is down at the same location, blocking two right lanes. The local fire department is working on cutting back the tree and removing it, Castellanos said. The two incidents are unrelated.
CAPE MAY COUNTY
• The Lower Township Office of Emergency Management reports the following information: road flooding on Town Bank Road near St. John of God Church, Holmes Avenue, Holland Avenue, Pilgrim Plaza and Bayshore Road near Charles Street. Also, the Township reports power outages on Bayshore Road near Ferry Road and Channel apartments, Bayshore and Townbank Roads and the areas around New England and Seashore Roads.
• Cape May County Emergency Management officials are urging all people who live on barrier islands in Cape May County that have not yet evacuated to remain at their present location.
• Nearly all of Cape May County is evacuated as Hurricane Irene draws nearer
• Jersey Shore prepares for Hurricane Irene, turning busy shore spots to ghost towns
• VIDEO: Some Cape May residents seem unfazed by approaching Hurricane Irene
• VIDEO: Commercial fishermen evacuate Cape May port as Irene approaches
• VIDEO: Cape May boaters rush to save their boats as Hurricane Irene approaches
CUMBERLAND COUNTY
ESSEX COUNTY
• Nearly 15 homes were damaged from fallen trees in West Orange as officials worked throughout the day to deal with power outages and an array of calls for help from residents.
• Emergency crews responded to 120 calls and closed several streets in town, said Jessica Glicker, director of communications for West Orange Township. Street closures include sections of Pleasant Valley Way and Northfield Avenue; Mt. Pleasant Avenue and Main Street; Eagle Rock Avenue between Pleasant Valley Way and Laurel Avenue.
Glicker said West Orange High School is open until 10pm for residents and longer if necessary. The Roosevelt Middle School shelter is closed. She said the water advisory is still in effect for residents to boil water.
• The Central business district in Millburn flooded around 2 a.m. when two branches of the Rahway River overflowed, said Lt. Peter T. Eakley, deputy emergency management coordinator of the Millburn police department. Eakley said several business on Main Street were flooded and residents had to be rescued in a front loader truck driven by employees from the department of public works. He said the water level began to recede around 11 a.m.
• Driving rain and relentless gusts made for treacherous conditions along the Passaic River basin and townships throughout Essex County as Hurricane Irene opened her full assault on Northern New Jersey early Sunday.
• From Fairfield to Nutley to Belleville local authorities battled fire, floods, and damage, authorities said. "We have flooding throughout the town," said Captain Victor Mesce of the Belleville Police Department.
• Police issued a mandatory evacuation for a dozen homes on Fairway avenue. Police rescued stranded motorists from cars on Main and Mill streets, and a house fire broke out Mayor Street.
• Earlier in the night a woman jumped from a bridge in Nutley, Mesce said, and rode the current to Belleville. "Our guys found her at 681, Main Street," Mesce said.
• In Millburn Lt. Peter Eakely said the town was experiencing "major flooding" forcing the closure of the shelter at Millburn High as well as a catalog of streets.
• The American Red Cross Building at 389 Millburn Avenue is now caring for displaced residents. Millburn Avenue, Essex Street, White Oak Ridge Road, Main Street, and JFK Parkway have all been shut down.
• "The entire South Mt. Estates is surrounded by water," Eakely said in a statement. "Emergency Services have detailed personnel to that area for the safety of our residents."
• While the Passaic basin usually takes several days to flood after rain, the amount of precipitation this year has saturated the ground both in the basin and throughout the county, said Sheriff Armando Fontoura, causing flash flooding, downed trees, and power lines.
• Fontoura, the county's emergency management director, said his crews have been battling downed trees, power outages, and floods throughout the night. "We lost power here," he said of the county's emergency command center in West Orange, but thanks to backup generators, he said, "We didn't miss a step."
• Fontoura said sporadic power outages were hitting communities throughout Essex but PSE&G was working to make restorations. Still, downed trees and powerlines, as well as rising floodwaters had forced an estimated 500 people into shelters throughout the county, he said.
• Several department of public works vehicles had been affected by down trees and floods, and personnel required rescue but no one was seriously injured. "This is the kind of thing we're dealing with out here," Fontoura said urging everyone to stay home and off the roads today.
• Also in Millburn, the entire South Mt. Estates is surrounded by water. Emergency Services have detailed personnel to that area.
• While conditions held overnight in Fairfield the township is preparing for severe flooding in its low-lying areas. "It's going to be a lot quicker than our normal 48-hour testing time," said Fairfield Police Deputy Chief Gary Manna, adding that the township was instituting a mandatory evacuation along its low-lying areas by tonight. "The duration of that flood is going to be long -- literally record flooding," Manna said.
• The storm led to at least one injury in Newark when a car slammed into an iron gate outside of a home at Bergen Avenue and South 15th Street shortly before 10:30 p.m. One man suffered non-life threatening injuries in the crash, according to Detective Hubert Henderson, a city police spokesman.
GLOUCESTER COUNTY
Dam breached in Harrison; causes tree to fall into Greenwich home; cuts power to 14,000 in Gloucester County
Enlarge A large group of people take refuge at Middle School 4 Aug. 27 after evacuations occurred in Jersey City. The school is one of many shelters open to anyone looking to seek shelter from hurricane Irene. Alex Goodlett/The Jersey Journal Hudson County residents prepare for Hurricane Irene gallery (28 photos)
• Power is out in parts of Secaucus with mass flooding on Farm Road (near Hackensack River). The fire department has evacuated many homes/neighbors by boat and sent them to Huber Street school.
• Around 10 a.m this morning black clouds turned a lighter shade of grey as Hoboken residents emerged from their apartments to assess the string of damage left behind from Irene. Police estimate at least four power lines went down with residents on at least three different blocks -- Jefferson, Adams and Grand -- losing power between 4 and 4:30 a.m. Emergency services are still encouraging residents to stay off the roads to avoid the live power lines. Mostly all streets west of Jefferson Street are still packed with standing water nearly a foot high. The PATH station and old Lackawanna Railroad hub that experienced mass flooding from the night before, still had emergency crews working into the mid-morning. Out on Washington St. along the city's main drag, most businesses remain closed with plywood boards or duct tape pasted over the windows to avoid what was feared by mayor Dawn Zimmer as a 100-year event. The Red Cross shelter on Willow Avenue -- which had almost 80 inhabitants Saturday night -- is mostly vacant now. Cars that were banned from the roads at 8 p.m. Last night have started to resurface.
• The driving ban put in place at midnight last night by Chief of Police Thomas Comey has been extended until at least 11 a.m., based on continued severity of the storm. The Police Chief will re-evaluate and update at that time.
• Hoboken University Medical Center evacuated to Bayonne for Hurricane Irene
• Jersey City: mandatory evacuation orders have not changed
• 55 people at Wallace School shelter, room for more, as Hoboken waits for Hurricane Irene
• Evacuation under way in Hoboken, cars prohibited on city streets this evening
• More on the Jersey City evacuations
• Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus creates mobile emergency and triage room
HUNTERDON COUNTY
• Dozens of roads and bridges in Hunterdon County have been flooded and closed, officials say, stranding residents, many of whom are being evacuated, the county’s office of emergency management says.
Residents in Stockton, Franklin, High Bridge, Lambertville, Lebanon, Readington and Califon are being evacuated, adding to those who left Raritan and Flemington Saturday.
Either through flooding, fallen trees or down power lines along Route 202 has closed the road in both directions through West Amwell and East Amwell. Portions of Route 12 through Kingwood, Flemington and Raritan are also shut. Flooding on Route 22 through Readington has closed all lanes of that road.
The office also says rising waters at the Lake Solitude Dam in High Bridge are at an emergency stage and that state officials on location who are monitoring the damn are requesting a reverse 911 message to advise residents to boil their water.
The county’s emergency management office said that after consulting with federal weather officials, it could be revising rainfall totals significantly upward, from an earlier 6-to-10-inch total to a 10-to-14-inch forecast.
The office is monitoring rising waters, particularly from the Delaware in Riegelsville, Frenchtown, Stockton and Washington Crossing State Park, where federal officials have issued flood warnings.
Buses are taking residents who have been evacuated to the J.P. Case Middle School in Raritan.
• U.S. Route 209 is now closed through Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area from the park’s south contact station (located just north of Fernwood Resort) all the way to the intersection of Route 209 and Route 206 near Milford. The road will remain closed until further notice.
• Water has begun to overtop the United Water Lambertville dam, but at this point there is no concern that it could be breeched, said New Jersey State Police Sgt. Julian Castellanos. The dam entered warning stage once water began to flow over the top, Castellanos said. "It's not in danger that it's going to knock down, but it has started to go over," he said.
• Delaware River could crest near beginning flood stage in Lambertville
• Hunterdon County residents stock up for Irene as storm heads for N.J.
MERCER COUNTY
• New Hope-Lambertville free bridge over Delaware River is closed after being struck by floating tree
• In Hightstown, flooding caused the water plant to shut down and officials issued a notice that residents should boil all water on the borough's website.
• Hurricane Irene forces 1,200 Atlantic City evacuees to Trenton
• Photo gallery: Final hurricane preparations in Mercer County
MIDDLESEX COUNTY
• New Brunswick Mayor James Cahill has just signed an emergency declaration restricting travel on city streets to emergency response personnel until 6 a.m. Monday.
In a statement released this afternoon, Cahill said Route 18 is closed north of the George Street exit by Douglass College campus while Route 18 south is closed south of Huntington Street to Newell Avenue, due to the rising Raritan River which has already flooded the highway.
• New Brunswick emergency responders have their hands full. The Rartan River has overflowed its banks and flooded Route 18 and up to Neilson Street — and it isn't even high tide or the river's crest--that's tomorrow.
Capt. Robert Schaffer of the city fire department, said which is handling all emergency management operations, said emergency personnel are going door to door evacuating people that didn't leave before in the flood area.
"We have multiple alarms and the river is flooding," he said. "We're spinning our wheels."
Officials are expected to decide later today what to do about tomorrow when the Hub City becomes the seat of Middlesex County government and courts, bringing thousands of additional people into downtown New Brunswick.
• Metuchen has banned all travel and is warning residents to stay inside due to downed power lines, some of them live. About 50 trees were blown over, according to a town police dispatcher. The traffic lights are out, she says, and Route 27 is closed by the intersection of Grove Avenue.
The police reported one “water rescue.” They received a call from the family of an elderly woman who was trapped in her basement and “can’t swim,” according to the dispatcher. When the fire department arrived, they found the woman standing uninjured in two feet of water.
• About 100,000 people—or approximately 25 to 50 percent of the county—were without power this morning throughout Middlesex County, but that number dropped to 70,000 this afternoon.
• Travel through the city of New Brunswick is difficult, especially on Route 18, which is flooded between George Street and Huntington Street, according to the county Emergency Management Office. "New Brunswick is like an island right now," Chris Conley said, adding the flooding is from the rain, not the Raritan River which is not expected to crest over flood stage until Monday night into Tuesday.
More road conditions in Middlesex County:
In Plainsboro, Route One Northbound at the Millstone River is now closed due to flooding.
• Dey Road between Plainsboro Road and Scudders Mill Road is now closed due to a down power line.
• Dey Road between Pheasant Hollow Apartments and Scotts Corner Road is now open.
• In Jamesburg, Pergola Avenue, Route 522, and Forsgate Drive are closed due to flooding.
• In Perth Amboy, Sadowski Parkway, Water and Front Streets will remain restricted for travel today until authorities are sure there will be no more flooding, according to Larry Cattano, the director of the Office of Emergency Management.
• A 16-inch water main broke in South Amboy, leading to a boil water notice has been issued for South Amboy by Middlesex Water Company, said spokeswoman Bernadette Sohler.
• The entire county is under a state of emergency and only emergency personnel are allowed on the roads, according to Chris Conley, the deputy public information officer for the county Office of Emergency Management. Middlesex County is a mess, added John Ferguson, the county's emergency management coordinator.
“Everything is flooded,” Ferguson says. “There isn’t a town in the entire county that doesn’t have flooding. All 25 townships are flooded.”
Route 18, which hugs the Raritan River in New Brunswick, has scattered road closure. Towns with power outages include Woodbridge, Spotswood, South Brunswick, South Plainfield and Metuchen.
He wouldn’t speculate whether the Irene’s wrath will match the devastation of Tropical Storm Floyd.
“Ask us in four days,” Ferguson says.
• Conley said Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and St. Peters University Hospital are operating on their own generators and are taking new patients. They are not evacuating patients because he said they can handle the ones they have at this time. Parts of New Brunswick are without power.
• Local and county OEM officials are awaiting high tide in Raritan Bay when the storm surge expected to inundate the waterfronts in Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville and Old Bridge's Laurence Harbor and Cliffwood Beach, said Conley.
• He said towns have opened their shelters, as has the county. The state opened three at Rutgers and the main one, the College Avenue gymnasium in New Brunswick, has 350 people.
• Ferguson said the bayside towns made it through last night's high tide, but he said officials are concerned about this morning's high tide at about 8 a.m., when the storm surge is predicted to hit. "Our big concern is the cresting of the Raritan River," he said. "That's expected to be over 40 feet in Bound Brook, which will flood Middlesex Borough."
• Ferguson said the river may flood as badly as it did in 1999 with Hurricane Floyd when the river overflowed its banks in New Brunswick, flooding Route 18.
• Residents in the streets closest to the waterfront, including Front Street, Water Street and Sadowski Parkway, were ordered to move their vehicles.
• Cranbury issued a warning that the floods cut off the township's emergency 911 system. Cranbury residents should call 911 for emergencies, and those calls will be routed to the East Windsor police department. For non-emergency calls, Cranbury residents should dial (609) 448-5678.
• New Brunswick also ordered residents in low-lying areas and the downtown to remove their vehicles from the street and arranged with the city's parking authority to allow them to park for free in one of its garages.
• Both Old Bridge and East Brunswick have declared states of emergency, which prohibits travel on municipal roads after 10 p.m. through the duration of the storm, officials said.
• Hurricane Irene has Perth Amboy boat owners heading to the marina to secure vessels
Enlarge Saturday: Ed Johnston, owner of The Cove Restaurant near Sunset Pavilion, in Cape May, watches as the water pounds against the dunes and jetty next to his business, as the storm becomes more intense. (Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger) Hurricane Irene Photos Day-by-Day gallery (51 photos)
• In the wake of Irene, thousands of Monmouth County residents are in the dark.
County Sheriff Shaun Golden said 121,000 homes are currently without power as officials continue to asses the damage of the storm in the county.
• Almost ten inches of rain fell in Howell, putting 25 homes under water and displacing over 500 into area shelters. Other areas like Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Keansburg — which had full mandatory evacuations — and Union Beach flooded.
• Trees were falling with the rain and the wind this morning. Four trees fell on one block in the western part of town.
• In Spring Lake, offiicals prepared for Hurricane Irene’s arrival by constructing a 10-foot dune to protect the town’s venerable beach pavillion, which dates back to the time of the Public Works Administration. After Irene’s beating, the dune looked like something that had been built by children’s shovels and pails, but the pavillion and the town’s boardwalk were intact.
• Belmar didn’t fare as well. Ocean Avenue was sand covered and the roiling surf had destroyed the hurricane fences and tossed several heavy planters into the middle of the street. By daybreak, the storm was not stopping people from lining up along the boardwalk with cellphone cameras to snap the awesome spectacle of the ocean at its mightiest. In Belmar, the legendary fishing pier stood strong as the waves pounded away the timbers that jut 100 yards out to sea.
• Wind gusts topped off at 63 mph in Sandy Hook and 52 mph in Belmar overnight, according to the National Weather Service.
• Hurricane Irene: list of N.J. shelters, areas being evacuated
• Sea Bright businesses, Highlands residents prepare for Hurricane Irene's arrival
• Asbury Park residents vacate city as Hurricane Irene rolls toward N.J.
• VIDEO: Jersey surfers eye the hurricane as numbers swell onto the beach
• At Long Branch's Pier Village this afternoon, more than 50 people gathered on the boardwalk to check out the waves and see if Hurricane Irene would live up to the hype. "It's amazing to see what Mother Nature does," said Kathy Alter, 49, of Long Branch, as she looked out onto the ocean after a run on the boards. "You gotta appreciate the beauty and the power. What are you going to do, just sit and wait for it?"
Surfers dotted the waves, hopping over caution tape meant to keep people off the sand and people milled around, waving for the TV cameras.
• As rain starts to blanket the roads and evacuation deadlines near to a close, area shelters are starting to fill up in Monmouth County. Sheriff Shaun Golden said a shelter at Wall High School is full and officials are sending people who arrive there to shelters in neighboring Homdel and Colts Neck. Golden announced a mandatory evacuation for county residents in a flood zone yesterday. Golden said officials are working with the American Red Cross to get another shelter open in the county. If they can't, he said they may have to send people further west.
MORRIS COUNTY
• Green Pond Road at School Rd. in Hibernia, Rockaway Township,
is under about 4-5' of water, making it impassible.
• The aftermath of Hurricane Irene has inundated vast portions of Denville, leaving residents scrambling for dry ground and St.
OCEAN COUNTY
• Residents and homeowners of Long Beach Island said they are anxious to see what Irene did to their properties.
Some sat in their cars at the foot of the Route 72 causeway, which had been closed to eastbound traffic since Friday, for at least a couple hours waiting to be one of the first permitted Back on the island, which was under mandatory evacuation.
PASSAIC COUNTY
SALEM COUNTY
Photo gallery: Hurricane Irene slams into Salem County
SOMERSET COUNTY
• There are currently only two functioning traffic lights in North Plainfield. The rest are dark due to widespread power outages, according to police captain, Brian Tufaro.
About 26 trees fell during the height of the storm, leaving behind a tangle of live power lines throughout town. Because of the hazard, police are cautioning residents not to leave their homes.
• Hurricane Irene toppled a large tree just next to the two-story home on West Brown Street in the borough, knocking down power lines and spraying the area with blue sparks, Sherwood said.
That was some of the most major damage seen in Somerville today, part of which was buried under tree limbs and flood waters today.
Somerville Mayor Brian Gallagher said the borough has evacuated more than 60 residents along the rising Peters Brook and is still doing so.
Several roads, such as sections of Route 206, have been blocked off.
• Parts of Bound Brook, South Bound Brook, Manville under mandatory evacuation order
• Somerville deals with toppled trees after Hurricane Irene
SUSSEX COUNTY
UNION COUNTY
• Irene took its toll on Union County, leaving 10,000 residents without power while county police used boats to rescue nearly 90 people from their homes on flooded streets in Rahway and Springfield.
"It's a matter of getting the power back up and the water subsiding'' said Sebastian D'elia, director of communication for Union County government.
D'elia said police boats scooped up 50 residents from their homes on West Grand Avenue and Rahway Avenue in Rahway and another 36 residents on Albin Drive in Springfield. The aftermath of the storm also flooded downtown Cranford and water was seeping into the police department and municipal building. The Elizabeth fired department had flooding and the Plainfield police department was using its generator.
D'elia said there are shelters for residents and friendly hotels for pets.
• The Rahway River breached its dikes Sunday morning, setting off flooding that could reach historic levels in Cranford.
The areas along Riverside Drive — especially neighborhoods that butt up against the river on the northwest side of town — already are experiencing massive flooding. In some spots, water had risen to the middle of street signs. Springfield Avenue, one of the town's main thoroughfares, also had been closed by police in many areas.
•
Cranford residents are dealing with heavy flooding from Hurricane Irene
WARREN COUNTY
Sponsored Links
More stories in New Jersey Real-Time News
It is going to be interesting to hear what all the doomsday newscasters, governors etc, have to say why they played it up so big.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
Seriously!? If there had been a disaster you'd be complaining that enough was not done. During an emergency you have to play the odds, and odds were that there was going to be sever weather and damage. Instead of whining and sniveling like a child, you should be grateful that everything was handled orderly and that there was relatively little injuries and property damage. Grow up, people.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
niiboned. No I would not be complaining at all if less was said and it was worse. Been through it many times. Yelling fire in a theater when someone lights a match is not wise. Too much media hype can and has caused panic, which can be worse. As isaidit posted, it is overkill and mainly because of all the media hype.
What it boils down to is 3 things at least
1) Government wants to cover itself even at the cost of scaring people into buying every generator Home Depot has and emptying grocery shelves
2) Areas can claim federal financial help if they can convince everyone it is a disaster
3) Complete lack of common sense
Just curious how many hurricanes have you been through? Bet I have been through as many or more than you. It was Cat 1 at best and quickly lessened. Keep an eye on things and use common sense.
One can live a long time without any electricity and tons of food.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
11 pm and I went to our former NJN TV station for much needed info at the peak of this terrible hurricane, and there was NOTHING! What a disgrace; who gave away our info lifeline? Shame shame shame.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
Flood gates in Bound Brook closed for the first time. I pray for the those on the other side. This is a gov. experiment. . .need I say more?
Inappropriate? Alert us.
Not one channel has Central Jersey news on during this storm and that is a disgrace. Central Jersey is a major market, yet places like Laramie Wyoming have better coverage during weather problems. NJN should have been covering this, but Republicans do not like to have the truth told about what they do, so that's why they killed NJN, they and the Abudato's who had a profit motive in the deal.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
...and WTF does this have to do with politics??????!?!?!?? Half of my town is under water and you're complaining about Democrats vs. Republicans? Shut the F up.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
It's funny you should say that about no coverage, I ALWAYS said that even the Weather Channel can't mention... shhhh... New Jersey. It's always "Between NY and Philadelphia" That's all we are to the weather people is that vast wasteland between NY and Philadelphia. It really aggravates me.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
Now that everyone purchased eggs, milk, and bread, let the french toasting begin!
isaidit August 28, 2011 at 8:47AM
I never understood why people purchased perishable food during warning's off power outage. Yes stock the fridge and cry when the power goes out. I agree with "50" overkill at it's finest. It was obvious town's extremely close to water were going to get it the worst. Every reporter was located right on the beach with the huge waves in the back crashing down lol.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
Part of South Amboy is without water. Middlesex Water said it's a broken temp pipe.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
How is the NO NJ coverage. This is what we get? NJTV is a FAILURE, they did not even make an attempt of any from of coverage during the hurricane, disgraceful.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
To all of you HATERS : Why are you all posting your hatred and venom for us to see?? Why did not all of you simply watch another TV channel ??
Inappropriate? Alert us.
Does anyone know how the bay section of Lavallette is now? I have a friend with a house there.
Inappropriate? Alert us.
Irene can be thanked for a peaceful weekend in Newark, haven't seen or heard about any murders.
No comments:
Post a Comment