by KYW's Mike DeNardo, Jim Melwert, Al Novack, and David Madden
The remnants of Hurricane Ida are pummeling most of the East Coast, causing heavy flooding along the South Jersey shoreline and prompting voluntary evacuations. The US Coast Guard was searching for three missing boaters, and bridges to several shore towns were closed as the waters in the back bays rose.
In addition to wind gusts up to 45 mph along the shore, AccuWeather was calling for a day of windswept rain across the Delaware Valley.
Ocean City, NJ was cut off from the mainland on Friday morning. Police closed the bridges into town as bay waters rose under the relentless pressure of northeast winds and strong tides.
Bridges from the mainland to Wildwood, North Wildwood, and Avalon were also closed by rising waters.
In Ocean City, most areas west of Asbury Avenue were under water. The power remained on as of Friday morning, although water was lapping at the doors of many homes. The parking lot of an Acme Market was busy -- not because the store was open, but because it was high ground and many residents were trying to protect their cars.
The Cape May County office of emergency management was preparing to issue an emergency order that will allow them to access equipment and services from the National Guard. They were also asking for Cape May County residents who live on the bay side of barrier islands to voluntarily evacuate by Thursday evening.
Officials say this could be one of the five worst storms in Cape May County history, with high tides as high as four feet above normal.
Cape May officials say residents on the bay side of islands probably want to pack their bags and prepared to be out for as long as a day and a half.
Many South Jersey shore towns were already experiencing street flooding (right), and officials were worried about storm damage between now and Saturday. Scott Wahl is Avalon, NJ’s public information officer:
"The beaches have taken a pounding through these repeated nor’easters, and we’re anxious to see how we’re going to make it through this storm."
The US Coast Guard in Cape May, NJ was searching for three people who were aboard the fishing boat "Sea Tractor" that sank on Wednesday night some 20 miles east of Cape May.
The missing boaters have been identified as Kenneth Rose Sr., 75; his son -- the ship captain -- Kenneth Jr., 49; and Larry Forrest, 55. The boat was based in North Carolina but often fished off the coast of Cape May.
The Coast Guard has been doing a grid search using two helicopters and two cutters. The Coast Guard planned to add a special C-130 tracking-and-rescue aircraft to the search.
As of Thursday evening, the only trace of the boat that was found was an empty life raft that was spotted by a helicopter crew.
Meanwile, the bridge (right) that carries traffic between Townsends Inlet, NJ and Avalon was closed after a crane barge struck the drawbridge overnight.
There is some damage, but engineers had to check both the deck and pillars to make sure the bridge was still safe to carry vehicular traffic.
As of Thursday morning, police had blocked off the bridge and motorists were forced to use alternate routes. Your best alternates would be the Garden State Parkway or the old Route 9.
The brunt of the storm on Thursday morning was over North Carolina and Virginia, where governor Tim Kaine declared a state of emergency (see related story).
(Photos #1 and #3 by KYW's David Madden. Photo #2 from CBS-3)
E-Mail Story
Print Story
