page_title: Effects of Hurricane Irene in New Jersey
section_title: Preparations
hierarchical_section_title: Effects of Hurricane Irene in New Jersey / Preparations
caption_attribution_description: English: A restaurant boards up before the arrival of Hurricane Irene in Ocean City, New Jersey
context_page_description: The effects of Hurricane Irene in New Jersey in 2011 included about $1 billion in damage to 200,000 homes and buildings. This made it the costliest disaster in the state's history, though this was dwarfed by Hurricane Sandy the following year. Irene struck the state on August 28, and was initially reported to be the first hurricane to hit New Jersey since 1903; however, post-analysis downgraded Irene to a tropical storm at its landfall in the Little Egg Inlet.
context_section_description: As early as August 23, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicted that Hurricane Irene – then located over The Bahamas as a major hurricane – would be near New Jersey within five days as the storm moved around the subtropical ridge. On August 25, the NHC predicted Irene would be over New Jersey within three days. Accordingly, the agency issued a hurricane watch for the East Coast of the United States from the North Carolina/Virginia border to Sandy Hook in New Jersey. A day later, this was upgraded to a hurricane warning, including the northernmost portion of the coastline to the New York border. Hurricane warnings ultimately covered 11 counties, with tropical storm warnings in another six counties.
  Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency on August 25, with President Obama reaffirming the declaration by August 27. New Jersey Transit rail, bus and light rail operations were suspended for Saturday, August 27, and Sunday, August 28. That same day, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey suspended incoming flights at the five metropolitan airports under its jurisdiction and the on Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) rapid transit system. The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSE&G) opted to dispatch roughly 6,000 workers in case of power outages, with 840 lineman and 540 tree contractors.
  In Cape May County, New Jersey, management director Frank McCall ordered a mandatory evacuation of barrier islands effective on Thursday Aug 25 and all residents from the county Friday at 8 a.m.  All Atlantic County shore communities east of Route 9—including Brigantine, Ventnor, Margate and Longport—were placed under a voluntary evacuation at 8 p.m. August 25, and the following day a mandatory evacuation effective starting 6 a.m. All Atlantic City casino resorts shut down on August 26, as the city faced the first mandatory evacuation in history; the city only underwent a partial evacuation during Hurricane Gloria in 1985. At an August 27, afternoon press conference, Christie stated that 90 percent of Cape May County residents had evacuated and announced plans to send buses to the Atlantic City region to urge remaining residents to leave the area. At the same press conference, Christie stated that 1,500 National Guard troops had been deployed in New Jersey.
  In Ocean County, all of Long Beach Island was under mandatory evacuation starting at 8:00 a.m. on August 26, while evacuations of the Barnegat Peninsula barrier island to the north were simultaneously underway. To relieve evacuation traffic, toll operations were temporarily suspended on the Garden State Parkway south of the Raritan River and on the Atlantic City Expressway. The southbound lanes on the Garden State Parkway south of exit 98 were closed at 8 p.m. on August 26, while east-west bridges and arteries such as Route 70 and Route 72 would be closed to eastbound traffic. That same day, traffic on New Jersey Route 55 south of Vineland, New Jersey Route 47 and New Jersey Route 347 was only allowed to head north.
  Residents of low-lying areas of Hudson County along the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay were advised to evacuate. In some areas, evacuation was mandatory for residents of ground-floor apartments.
  Meteorologists noted the potential of up to 16 in (410 mm) of rain in some New Jersey locations. The Ramapo River floodgates were opened in an attempt to reduce flooding associated with the possible overflow of the river.
caption: A restaurant boards up in preparation for Irene in Ocean City, New Jersey
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