Jersey Shore Faces Severe Flooding as Coastal Storm Persists

OCEAN CITY, N.J. (WPVI) — A coastal storm has led to severe flooding at the Jersey Shore, prompting officials to advise drivers to avoid roads on Monday evening.

The storm, which lingered for a second day, brought heavy rain to areas including Atlantic City. By Monday afternoon, children were seen riding bikes through flooded streets, with water levels nearly covering their tires.

In Margate, some residents attempted to navigate the water in larger vehicles during high tide. Waves crashed along the shore, drawing onlookers.

Donna Hughes, a local resident, commented, “Everybody was calling us asking, ‘Oh my God, what is it like down there?’ It’s just a little rain. The waves are big. The wind was bad.”

Viewer footage captured street flooding in the Merion Park section of Ocean City, where water levels reached the second step of Joe Dovis‘s front porch. “Unless you had waders on, you couldn’t really walk and there were kids in the streets in canoes,” Dovis said.

Terry Crowley, who has lived in Ocean City for 17 years, compared the flooding to past storms, stating, “I mean, we had water in there, but this — compared to Sandy — was a piece of cake.”

Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian warned that the primary concern was vehicles driving through floodwaters. “They’re like motorboats and they’re throwing wakes, damaging homes and blowing out garage doors,” he said.

Officials indicated that Monday afternoon’s high tide could be the worst of the storm. An emergency shelter has been set up in Atlantic City’s convention center for those needing accommodation, remaining open at least until Tuesday morning.