Storm Dumps Up To 17 Inches On New Jersey Shore Towns
LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. (CBS/AP) -- In Little Egg Harbor, Eyewitness Weather measured about 15 inches of snow as of 6 p.m. Thursday. Throughout the day, not only were we battling continuous snowfall, crews also had to deal with high wind gusts and extremely low visibility.
"Keep plowing and plowing and plowing and plowing," said Stone Walsh, who had been working since 9 p.m. Wednesday night. "It's dense wet snow and it just keeps coming. It's very windy. It's thick, very thick."
The National Weather Service says 17 inches fell on Cape May Court House by late afternoon.
Bayville and Margate each received 16 inches. At least six towns in Ocean County reported double-digit snow totals.
And in Atlantic City, about 14.2" of snow was recorded.
Snow wasn't the only thing residents were dealing with at the Jersey Shore. Icy water flowed by houses and even trapped one car in Ocean City, near 3rd Street between Haven and Simpson Ave.
Snowfall was smaller to the northwest, with areas in Burlington, Mercer, Morris and Somerset counties getting four to five inches.
As snow pummeled the Jersey Shore and beyond, Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency for Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties and later expanded that to the entire state.
"The roads were terrible," said Corey Roberts of Little Egg Harbor. "They're very bad and I'm surprised people are traveling still."
By early afternoon, road conditions worsened so much that Atlantic County issued a travel ban for all non-essential vehicles on county and municipal roads. The travel ban was lifted Friday morning.
Emergency Travel Ban Lifted https://t.co/FOYwdSHM31
— Atlantic County (@atlantic_county) January 5, 2018
But Augustine Keirans decided to brave the storm to drive from Avalon, New Jersey to Manayunk.
"I have some appointments in the city that I can't not make so I have to go back," Keirans said.
Residents in Delaware also saw some significant snow.
And in Pennsylvania, the snow totals were slightly lower with King of Prussia seeing roughly 4.5"
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State officials in New Jersey say more than 2300 crews are out trying to clear the roadways Officials are urging everyone to stay off the roads if possible.
In Delaware, the State of Emergency and Level 2 Driving Restriction remain in effect throughout Sussex County.
Governor Carney also has authorized the Delaware National Guard to assist state and local officials with any necessary response and recovery for this severe winter storm.
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