On Sandy anniversary, some NJ streets already flooded before Friday storm
It was a bit of deja vu for Ocean County with high standing water on several Ocean County roads the day before the ninth anniversary of Superstorm with more rain on the way.
Several roads were closed in downtown Toms River Thursday afternoon including Water Street at Irons Street, Windsor Street, Hooper Avenue and Exit 81 off the northbound Garden State Parkway. Bayview Avenue in Seaside Park flooded over.
More than a foot of water covered Route 35 on the barrier island on Thursday afternoon.
"Let's be absolutely crystal clear: The impacts from tonight's storm will be nowhere near as severe and long-lasting as Superstorm Sandy's," Zarrow said.
"It's coastal flooding. Strong easterly (on-shore) winds pushing water up against the coast. Furthermore, those winds will prevent back bays and tributaries from fully draining," New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow said. "That's why this afternoon's high tide cycle is expected to be even worse than Thursday."
Zarrow is expecting the peak impact of the storm to start late Friday afternoon and last until around 2 a.m. Saturday with wind gusts of 40 mph inland and 50-60 mph on the ocean. Rainfall is expected to total 1-2 inches, according to Zarrow.
"Let's be absolutely crystal clear: The impacts from tonight's storm will be nowhere near as severe and long-lasting as Superstorm Sandy's," Zarrow said.
A rainy anniversary but not Sandy
But it still won't be anywhere near how Sandy affected the Jersey Shore with $38 billion of worth of damage, 2.6 million utility customers without power, 43 deaths, the destruction of the Seaside Heights boardwalk and 5 feet of water standing in some northern New Jersey towns.
Retired Hoboken police chief Ken Ferrante on Friday remembered Sandy's impact on his city.
"I can vividly remember the moments as the Southeast Commander for HPD that day/week, especially at 9:30pm, as Bobby Truppner & I, sitting on Observer @ Washington Street watched the Hudson River pouring from the from the east as it came over Erie Lackawana Park, met the waters pouring in from the south over the NJ Transit tracks, and then like roaring rapids, poured into southwest Hoboken, putting the south half of the city under 6 feet of water and knocking out the city's power for a week," Ferrante wrote.
Some good came from Sandy
Seaside Heights police Chief Tommy Boyd told New Jesey 101.5 that while Sandy was a trying time, the rebuilding has led to elevated properties, higher values and one of the most secure boardwalks in the country.
"Sandy did a purge but it really knocked us on our feet," Boyd said.
Boyd said that a FEMA official told him it takes 5-10 years to get the recovery process started after a storm of Sandy's magnitude.
"I'm very positive for Seaside Heights. Seaside's looking up, our boardwalk is the best-protected boardwalk in the state of New Jersey, maybe the United States in my opinion and Seaside's on its way back," Boyd said.
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Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ