Outer Reaches Of Hurricane Dorian Bring Threat Of Street Flooding, Gusty Winds To Jersey Shore
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- It's been a windy day at the Jersey Shore as Hurricane Dorian passed by the coast. But officials' biggest concern is street flooding during the afternoon high tide.
Large, choppy swells are pounding the beaches in Atlantic City Friday as the outer reaches of Hurricane Dorian send steady wind to the Jersey Shore.
"Strong, gusty winds. Sometimes it's gusty enough to throw you off balance a little bit," Scranton, Pennsylvania resident Art Jones said.
Dangerous rip currents made swimming off-limits, and even boardwalk travel was difficult at times.
"It's bad. I shouldn't have been out here but I had to take my girlfriend to work and it's not nice," John Keegan said.
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With high tide touching the dunes in spots, erosion is a concern, and unsecured trash cans a hazard.
But the bigger concern is streets flooding from the swollen back bays. In Ventnor, safety officials took precautions.
"From a back bay flooding standpoint, we will barricade off streets that typically flood. We are expecting 1.5 to 1.6 feet higher than usual tides," Ventnor Public Works Commissioner Lance Landgraf said.
The conditions are similar to a typical Nor'easter at the shore and will hopefully clear in time for shore visitors to resume normal weekend activities like the Downbeach Seafood Festival, which will go on Saturday in Ventnor since the tents appear to be holding up fine in the wind.
"So the tents are all rated for 60 mile an hour gusts so we really weren't concerned. We anticipated maybe 50 mile an hour gusts at some point so we just really ratcheted down and keeping an eye on them," Jon Henderson, of Good Time Tricycle Productions, said.
Winds should die down by Saturday but officials are still worried about the tides overnight and on Saturday afternoon.
