The following events were reported: Flash Flood, Flood. These occurred near station USW00014734, approximately 29.4123 km away, between 2011-08-27 20:12:00 and 2011-08-31 06:40:00. The flood was caused by Heavy Rain / Tropical System. The events resulted in 0 injuries and 1 fatalities. The events caused property damage valued at 250000000.0 and crop damage of 0.0. Episode Narrative: Irene produced torrential downpour rains that resulted in major flooding and a number of record breaking crests on area rivers, tropical storm force wind gusts with record breaking outages for New Jersey utilities, one confirmed tornado and a three to five foot storm surge that caused moderate to severe tidal flooding with extensive beach erosion over the weekend of August 27th and 28th. Irene is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in the history of New Jersey. Approximately one million people were evacuated from the coast and low lying areas prone to inland flooding throughout the state of New Jersey including all of Cape May County. Irene also caused record breaking outages to utility customers as around one and a half million people lost power throughout the state. Power was not fully restored until September 5th. The widespread flooding resulted in the second highest crest (highest was with Hurricane Floyd in September 1999) on record for the Raritan Basin, but the highest crest on record for many other river basins including the Passaic. Moderate tidal flooding occurred along the tidal Delaware River and Delaware Bay and minor to moderate flooding occurred farther north along the Delaware River. Moderate to severe tidal flooding occurred along the Atlantic Coast and Raritan Bay There were six direct deaths associated with Irene, all drownings. The deaths occurred in Salem County, Mercer County (two), Ocean County (two) and Morris County. Preliminary damage estimates in the whole state of New Jersey were near one billion dollars to approximately 200,000 homes and businesses. The closure of the Atlantic City casinos (only the third time in history) for three days caused an estimated 45 million dollars in lost revenue. The combination of wind and flooding forced the closure of about 350 main roadways in the state including sections of Interstate 287, the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. The flooding rains and winds damaged the corn, peach, pumpkin, tomato,  pepper, cucumber, potato and squash crops and feared will damage the blueberry crop in 2012. Drug industry production fell the week of August 29th because of traveling problems. Free ice and water were distributed in locations with widespread power outages. The American Red Cross distributed over 1,000 clean-up kits and 100,000 meals and snacks. ||Tropical storm force wind gusts overspread New Jersey during the late afternoon and evening of the 27th and persisted through the afternoon of the 28th. Peak wind gusts averaged around 50 mph inland and around 65 mph at the coast. The strongest winds associated with Irene occurred at two distinct times. The first surge occurred during bands of heavier rain during the evening of the 27th and early morning of the 28th. The second peak occurred during the afternoon of the 28th when skies were clearing and deeper mixing of the atmosphere brought stronger winds to the ground. Most of the inland peak wind gusts occurred at this time. The rain associated with Irene overspread New Jersey during the late morning on the 27th, fell at its heaviest during the evening of the 27th into the early morning of the 28th and ended during the early afternoon on the 28th. Event precipitation totals averaged 5 to 10 inches and caused widespread record breaking flooding. Many locations broke August's all time monthly rainfall records even before Irene arrived. Because the flash flooding and flooding blended into one, all flooding related Stormdata county entries were combined into one under flood events. The storm surge of 3 to 5 feet caused moderate to severe tidal flooding along the ocean side and moderate tidal flooding in Delaware Bay and tidal sections of the Delaware River. The tidal flooding was during the evening and overnight high tide on the 27th across southern New Jersey, Delaware Bay and the Delaware River, but with the morning high on the 28th in Northern New Jersey. The morning high tide coincided closer with the high tide cycle and caused most of the severe tidal flooding to occur there. Minor tidal flooding persisted in tidal sections of the Delaware River during the high tide cycles from the 29th through the 31st. ||Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency on August 25th. New Jersey Transit rail, bus and light rail operations were suspended on the weekend of the 27th and 28th. Full transit service was not restored until Wednesday August 31st. In Cape May County, countywide mandatory evacuations were ordered on August 25th, and for residents the next day. Traffic on New Jersey State Route 55 south of Vineland, New Jersey Route 47 and New Jersey Route 347 were only allowed to head north leaving Cape May County.||All Atlantic County shore communities east of U.S. Route 9 including Atlantic City were placed under a voluntary evacuation at 8 p.m. August 25th and the following day a mandatory evacuation effective starting 6 a.m. EDT. All Atlantic City casinos were shut down as the city faced the first mandatory evacuation in history. About 1,500 National Guard troops had been deployed in the state to help with evacuations. In Ocean County, all of the barrier islands including Long Beach Island were under mandatory evacuation starting at 8 a.m. EDT on August 26th. 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. EDT on August 26th, while eastbound traffic was stopped on New Jersey State Routes 70 and Route 72.||Major flooding occurred on the Raritan, Millstone, Rockaway and Passaic Rivers. Record flows were reported at the Musconetcong River in Warren County as well as the Assunpink Creek in Mercer County and the Rancocas Creek in Burlington County. Flooding on the rivers lasted as long as September 5th. The flooding affected and closed   numerous roads, including the heavily used Interstate 287 in Boonton when the northbound shoulder collapsed from the force of the Rockaway River. The Garden State Parkway flooded in Toms River near exit 98. On Monday August 29th, eighty roadways were still closed and thirty-six roadways were still closed on the 30th. Ninety-eight percent of the closed roadways were reopened as of September 1st. Coupled with a reduced transit schedule, travel was described as gridlock on the 29th   Thousands of homes were also flooded, especially in Morris and Somerset Counties. Many northern New Jersey schools that were scheduled to open on the 29th were closed. ||At the Trenton Train Station along Assunpink Creek, flooding impacted Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, SEPTA's Trenton Line, and New Jersey Transit's (NJT) Northeast Corridor Rail Line. Service was not fully restored to and through Trenton until August 31st. Irene cost NJT just under $10 million in lost revenue and damaged infrastructure. Numerous homes suffered structural damages from the winds, and limbs impacting their roofs. ||In total, approximately 1.6 million customers of JCP&L and PSE&G throughout the state lost power. Two days after the storm, 500,000 PSE&G customers were still without power, down from a peak of about 928,000. By September 3 power had been restored to all but 750, but thousands of JCP&L customers were still without service. On September 2nd, 37,000 JCP&L customers were awaiting restoration of service. On Sunday September 5, power had been returned to last remaining 2,000 residents who suffered a power outage. ||There was one confirmed tornado in Mercer County, but widespread tree wind damage (and damage to homes and vehicles when trees fell on them) occurred in every county. In addition, a few municipalities experienced stronger wind bursts that caused direct property damage. The strong winds forced the suspension of service on the Cape May Lewes Ferry. In Monmouth County, in Long Branch, the high winds damaged two roofs of an apartment complex on Ocean Boulevard. In Ocean County, an estimated 500 trees were knocked down. The SpongeBob ride at the Funtown Pier in Seaside Park was damaged. In Atlantic County, a piece of an exterior wall of the Borgota Hotel was blown off. In Gloucester County, a 61-year-old woman suffered a head injury after being struck by a tree. ||The shore took a pounding from the coastal flooding and heavy surf. A 25-year-old and a 24-year-old man drowned in Point Pleasant (Ocean County) after going to the shore to view the storm. The average sand loss was about four to five feet high and one hundred fifty feet wide. Waves were estimated to reach as high as 12 feet as offshore seas reached 25 feet. There were numerous reports of dune fence damage and sand overwashes onto streets and boardwalks. Along the Raritan Bay side of Middlesex and Monmouth Counties, most of the vertical cuts were less than two feet and no breaches were reported. In Keansburg and Union Beach in Monmouth County low lying bayshore communities experienced tidal flooding. About 3,000 county residents were evacuated along Raritan Bay. Along the Atlantic Ocean side of Monmouth County, vertical cuts averaged 2 to 5 feet. In Spring Lake, about one and a half miles of the borough���s boardwalk was damaged and closed. In Ocean County, vertical cuts averaged 2 to 4 feet north of Barnegat Light and 4 to 6 feet south of Barnegat Light. A dune cut was reported in Harvey Cedars. Dune washovers occurred in Brant Beach. In Beach Haven, dune cuts reached 10 feet and the geotubes at Merrivale Avenue were overtopped. No flood damage to homes was reported. The entrance to the Holgate Natural Area was impassable as stone and rubble were exposed. In Atlantic County, vertical cuts averaged 1 to 4 feet, but reached 6 feet in Brigantine. In Cape May County, vertical cuts averaged 2 to 4 feet. A couple of horizontal dune cuts occurred in North Wildwood and the top cap of a timber bulkhead was knocked off. In Cape May City, a horizontal dune cut occurred on Poverty Beach. | |President Barack Obama initially declared the state a disaster area, making residents of Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic and Somerset Counties and made them eligible for federal aid. The declaration was later extended throughout the state.||The highest wind gusts recorded during Hurricane Irene were 75 mph at Cape May Ferry Terminal (Cape May County), 69 mph in Harvey Cedars (Ocean County), 69 mph in Tuckerton (Ocean County), 68 mph in Cape May Harbor (Cape May County), 66 mph at the Atlantic City Marina (Atlantic County), 66 mph in Ocean City (Cape May County), 65 mph in Point Pleasant (Ocean County), 58 mph in Atlantic City (Atlantic County), 58 mph in Sandy Hook (Monmouth County), 58 mph in Brick (Ocean County), 57 mph in Keansburg (Monmouth County), 55 mph in Barnegat Light (Ocean County), 55 mph at Lakehurst NAS (Ocean County), 55 mph at Point Point (Atlantic County), 55 mph in Seaside Heights (Ocean County), 53 mph at Wildwood (Cape May County), 52 mph in Belmar (Monmouth County), 52 mph in Bivalve (Cumberland County), 52 mph in Trenton (Mercer County), 51 mph at Ft Dix-Wrightstown (Burlington County), 50 mph in Wantage (Sussex County), 47 mph in Mount Holly (Burlington County) and 42 mph in Somerville (Somerset County).||Peak storm tides included 9.75 feet above mean lower low water in Sandy Hook (Monmouth County). Severe tidal flooding starts at 8.7 feet above mean lower low water. This was the third highest tide on record and highest tide since the December 1992 nor'easter. Other peak tides included 6.96 feet above mean lower low water in Atlantic City (Atlantic County), moderate tidal flooding starts at 7.0 feet above mean lower low water; 8.55 feet above mean lower low water in Cape May (Cape May County), severe tidal flooding starts at 8.7 feet above mean lower low water; 8.03 feet above mean lower low water at Reedy Island, New Castle County Delaware, moderate tidal flooding starts at 7.2 feet above mean lower low water and 9.89 feet above mean lower low water in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, moderate tidal flooding starts at 9.2 feet above mean lower low water. Along tidal sections of the Delaware River, Big Timber Creek flooded along the Gloucester and Camden County lines and about 300 homes in Burlington City (Burlington County) had flooded basements. ||Hurricane Irene formed east of the Leeward Islands on Saturday the 20th. It moved northeast and passed over Puerto Rico overnight on the 21st. As Irene moved off the island, it intensified into a hurricane. Irene just bypassed the island of Hispaniola to its north and then passed over the Eastern Bahamas on the 25th as it reached category three hurricane strength. From the Bahamas, Irene moved nearly due north and slowly weakened to a category two hurricane on the 26th and a category one hurricane on the 27th. Irene made her initial landfall near Cape Lookout, North Carolina at 8 a.m. EDT on the 27th as a category one and then proceeded to the northnortheast. Irene went back over the Atlantic Ocean near the Virginia and North Carolina border at 7 p.m. EDT on the 27th. From there Irene paralleled the Delmarva Peninsula and the center passed about 15 miles east of Delaware between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. EDT on the 28th. Irene continued to slowly weaken and made her second landfall as a tropical storm on Brigantine Island, just north of Atlantic City, New Jersey at 535 a.m. From there the center of Irene moved along eastern parts of Ocean and Monmouth Counties and was located near Tinton Falls Township in Monmouth County at 8 a.m. At about 9 a.m. EDT the center of Irene passed over New York City.||Irene helped make August 2011 the wettest August on record for the state of New Jersey dating back to 1895. A new August monthly rainfall record of 16.10 inches was established in Trenton. Irene produced torrential downpour rains that resulted in major flooding and a number of record breaking crests on area rivers, tropical storm force wind gusts with record breaking outages for New Jersey utilities, one confirmed tornado and a three to five foot storm surge that caused moderate to severe tidal flooding with extensive beach erosion over the weekend of August 27th and 28th. Event Narrative: A 74-year-old Edison man died of a heart attack on the morning of the 28th after he spent most of the overnight bailing water from his basement. Every municipality in Middlesex County had flooding problems and in addition half the county lost power. Major roadways that were closed due to flooding included U.S, Routes 1 and 130 and New Jersey State Routes 18 and 27. Monroe Township was one of the harder hit townships in Middlesex County as flooding along the Manalapan and Matchaponix Brooks affected 200 homes. Eleven homes were uninhabitable and a Tyndale Avenue home was knocked off its foundation. In Woodbridge, the Woodbridge River flooded. In the Avenel section of the township, the Ideal Mobile Home development was evacuated. In Old Bridge Township, flooding along the South River isolated four blocks in the township and moved two homes off their foundation. In Spotswood Borough, the historical Saint Peter's Episcopal Church was badly damaged|||The main stem of the Raritan River had major flooding and its second highest crest on record only surpassed by the flooding during Hurricane Floyd in September of 1999. The Raritan River at Bound Brook was above its 28 foot flood stage from 310 a.m. EDT on the 28th through 336 a.m. EDT on the 30th. It crested at 41.90 feet at 6 p.m. The Bound Brook at Middlesex had a record breaking crest of 13.99 feet at 315 p.m. The brook was above its 9 foot flood stage from 319 a.m. EDT on the 28th through 742 a.m. EDT on the 29th. Event rainfall totals included 9.03 inches in South Plainfield, 8.31 inches in New Brunswick, 8.14 inches in Cranbury Township, 7.72 inches in North Brunswick and 7.24 inches in South Brunswick. In Somerset County, about 3,400 homes and 250 businesses suffered flood damage. Seven hundred homes were damaged in Bound Brook and six hundred were damaged in Manville. Mandatory evacuations occurred in Manville, Bound Brook, South Bound Brook and Somerville. In Manville, the Lost Valley section was hit hard by flooding as 250 people were evacuated and continuous water rescues were performed. One in three homes in the borough was damaged. Forty of the homes��� foundations either collapsed or were damaged. In Bound Brook, most of the evacuations occurred along Main Street. Twenty of the county���s municipalities suffered major flooding and every township had at least one roadway closed. Among the major roadways that were closed included Interstate 78, U.S. Routes 202 and 206 and New Jersey State Route 22. It was feared that toxic chemicals were released into the Raritan River. Along the Millstone River, the Zarephath Christian Church property in Franklin Township suffered major property damage. Flooding reached the second floor of some buildings. Along the Raritan River in Franklin Township, the historical Van Wickle House was also badly damaged. In Bridgewater Township, the TD Bank Ballpark was under water. Major flooding was also reported along the North Branch of the Raritan River.||The North Branch of the Raritan River had it worst flooding since Hurricane Floyd in September of 1999. For many sites, it was either the second or third highest crest on record. The North Branch of the Raritan River at Far Hills had minor flooding, its third highest crest on record. It was above its 6 foot flood stage from 345 a.m. EDT through 1020 a.m. It crested at 6.84 feet at 715 a.m. Farther downstream, the North Branch of the Raritan River at North Branch had its second highest crest on record. It was above its 12.3 foot flood stage from 215 a.m. EDT through 827 p.m. It crested at 20.54 feet at 1030 a.m. Farther downstream, the North Branch of the Raritan River near Raritan had major flooding and its second highest crest. It was above its 10 foot flood stage from 400 a.m. EDT through 1100 p.m. It crested at 17.97 feet at 1130 a.m. Farther downstream, the North Branch of the Raritan River at the village of South Branch had its third highest crest on record. It was above its 7 foot flood stage from 1237 a.m. EDT on the 28th through 1149 a.m. It crested at 16.59 feet at 145 p.m. ||The main stem of the Raritan River had major flooding and its second highest crest on record only surpassed by the flooding during Hurricane Floyd in September of 1999. The Raritan River at Manville was above its 14 foot flood stage from 443 a.m. EDT on the 28th through 905 p.m. It crested at 26.29 feet at 400 p.m. Farther downstream, the Raritan River at Bound Brook was above its 28 foot flood stage from 310 a.m. ||The Millstone River had major flooding and its highest crest on record at Griggstown and Blackwells Mills. The Millstone River at Griggstown  was above its 10 foot flood stage from 1154 p.m. EDT on the 27th through 740 a.m. EDT on the 31st. It crested at 24.21 feet at 200 p.m. Farther downstream, the Millstone River at Blackwells Mills was above its 9 foot flood stage from 338 a.m. EDT on the 28th through 803 p.m. It crested at 21.24 feet at 630 p.m. Farther downstream, the Millstone River at Weston was above its 12.4 foot flood stage from 504 a.m. EDT on the 28th through 225 a.m. It crested at 22.91 feet at 715 p.m. | |The Pike Run at Belle Mead was above its 7 flood stage from 1112 p.m. EDT on the 27th through 120 a.m. It crested at 9.73 feet at 1230 a.m. EDT pm the 28th. The Pike Run at Belle Mead was again above its 7 foot flood stage from 1122 a.m. EDT through 1247 p.m. It crested at 8.13 feet at 1130 a.m. The Green Brook at Seeley Mills had its third  highest crest on record. The brook was above its 5.5 foot flood stage multiple times between 144 a.m. EDT and 945 a.m. It crested at 6.46 feet at 845 a.m. The Stony Brook at Watchung had its fourth  highest crest on record. The brook was above its 14.5 foot flood between 1230 a.m. EDT and 848 a.m. It crested at 16.38 feet at145 a.m. EDT.||Event rainfall totals included 8.19 inches in Bedminster Township, 7.65 inches in Hillsborough Township, 7.56 inches in Somerville, 7.56 inches in Franklin Township and 7.55 inches in Bridgewater Township.