Shore towns experiencing floods and beach erosion as Hurricane Ian roars through New Jersey
WILDWOOD, N.J. - Hurricane Ian may have run its course through Florida, but the deadly storm isn't finished with the Jersey Shore just yet. Angry waves are tearing through sand dunes, causing major flooding across the New Jersey coast.
The beach in Wildwood has narrowed since chunks of sand have been washed away in the surf. Mayor Patrick Rosenello of North Wildwood says he's expecting more of the dunes to go.
"This is a major breach of our dune system," said Rosenello. "This dune is protecting our beach patrol headquarters. We’ve lost 20 feet just since yesterday afternoon. If we go through another tide-cycle, we’ll see this dune completely breached."
The big concern is if the dune that stands in the way of the beach patrol building gets washed away, commercial properties will be directly exposed to the wrath of the intense, white-topped waves.
The mayor says he's already sent an urgent letter to state officials, pleading for a multimillion dollar dredging project to blast sand back onto the beach.
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Unfortunately, the remnants of Hurricane Ian are also causing chaos at the bay. The bay has jumped its banks and flooded parts of New York Avenue and 5th Street in North Wildwood, but Rosenello says he is still not calling for evacuations yet.
"Not doing evacuations right now, but if it does go higher, some will get water into their homes and may call us to get us out of the flooded areas," he said.
In Atlantic City, the ocean filled the end of Rhode Island Avenue just by 12:00 p.m. Mayor of Atlantic City, Marty Small, says he wants AC residents to take the storm seriously.
"Please take this storm seriously," Mayor Small said at a press conference. "As you know, we’ve been dealing with these conditions since last Friday night, and it’s expected to go until Wednesday.
City leaders are expecting the low-lying, shore-town streets to flood, which will snarl traffic. Residents can expect to hear an emergency horn, alerting them to move their cars to avoid the rising water levels.
Scott Evans, Atlantic City's emergency management coordinator, says the city has already seen large portions of the beach get washed away.
"We’ve seen beach erosion in the north end New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and Seaside Streets we’re seeing significant amount of loss of beach," said Evans.
AC City Hall closed early on Monday and is expected to do the same on Tuesday as the Jersey Shore rides out the remainder of the storm.
The North Wildwood and Ocean City Senior Centers will be closed on Tuesday due to the extended coastal flooding.
Fare Free will not be transporting to and from the barrier islands on Tuesday, except for Meals on Wheels and Dialysis. The mainland will continue to receive services as usual.