live shot 5:43pm Saturday April 14th Belmar Boardwalk

Spring storm threatens Shore area with flooding
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/14/07
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Most areas of New Jersey were expected to be in danger of flooding starting tonight as a spring storm blamed for the deaths of five people headed toward the Northeast.

"The storm still has a punch to it and it's going to intensify as it moves toward us,"
said Dean Iovino, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Mount Holly office. "(It will be) a general soaking rain for the entire region and it will get windy."

The forecast for the Monmouth and Ocean county area on Sunday is windy with heavy rain, with highs in the upper 40s. Winds will be east at 20 to 30 mph, with gusts to 45 mph.

The storm left five people dead as it moved from Texas toward the East Coast, dropping more than a foot of snow in Kansas and leaving the Gulf states with violent thunderstorms.

Two people were killed in Texas, including a police officer who died when his patrol car slid on wet pavement and struck a utility pole, and three people were killed in Kansas in traffic accidents on highways covered with ice and slush, authorities said.

The flood watch for most of New Jersey was to go into effect at 8 p.m. Saturday, and the heaviest rain was expected to last Saturday into Sunday, Iovino said. A coastal flood warning for Monmouth, Mercer, Salem, Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, Ocean, Cumberland, Atlantic and Cape May counties was to go into effect Sunday morning at 8 a.m.

"Most of the state is under a flood watch tonight," Iovino said. "As far as flooding is
concerned, most of the susceptible areas that usually flood will see some flooding."

Iovino said 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches of rain were expected, and that flooding would mostly be minor.

Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, said authorities were prepared for anything the storm might bring.

"We're ready for everything, which based upon the forecast, is pretty much what we could get," Orlando said.

The state Transportation Department had its own equipment available to help, to clear any downed wires and trees. There were also hundreds of contractor trucks with plowing and salt-spreading capability, Orlando said.

An additional 250 trucks would be on the Turnpike and Parkway, Orlando said.

Orlando said that due to the wind forecasts, he expected speed limit reductions and car pool trailer bans on the Turnpike. Throughout the rest of New Jersey, it would be up to state police to make any decisions about speed limit changes, he said.

"Fortunately this is happening on a Sunday, not a Monday during rush hour," Orlando said.








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