Tropical Storm Sandy formed in the Caribbean Sea on October 22. After drifting slowly southwest on October 23, Sandy turned to the north and intensified to a hurricane on October 24, just before making landfall in Jamaica. Hurricane Sandy continued to the north and intensified to a strong category two hurricane before making landfall again in Cuba shortly after Midnight EDT on the 25th. Hurricane Sandy emerged on the other side of Cuba during the morning of the 25th and proceeded to drift northwest as a category one or two hurricane as it moved through the Bahamas on the 25th and 26th. Overnight on the 26th, Hurricane Sandy (Category 1) started to move toward the north northeast, a motion that continued into the evening of the 28th. From there, Sandy���s motion became driven by two factors. An anomalously strong blocking ridge over the Canadian Maritimes prevented Sandy from escaping to the east. Simultaneously, an approaching and deepening extratropical trough was about to capture Sandy. The combination of the two, turned Sandy to the north overnight on the 28th and then to the northwest on the 29th.
As Sandy continued to move northwest and interact with the mid latitude trough, its interaction continued to make it less tropical, but did not weaken it much. Sandy continued to make a harder turn to the left (west) and made landfall in Atlantic County as a post tropical storm in Brigantine City just north of Atlantic City at 7:30 p.m. EDT on the 29th. The estimated minimum central pressure was 945 millibars. The lowest recorded central pressure was 945.6 millibars at the Atlantic City Marina at 7:34 p.m. EDT.
Record breaking high tides and wave action was combined with sustained winds of 40 to 60 mph and wind gusts of 70 to 80 mph.
These extreme conditions resulted in at least 12 deaths across Northeast NJ and widespread property damage.  The New Jersey State Governor estimated property damage at 29.4 billion dollars for the State.
Emergency managers recommended mandatory evacuations of people living along the coasts and rivers of mainly Union, Essex, and Hudson Counties.  Widespread significant power outages of more than 1 million lasted up to 2 weeks.

Coastal Flood in EASTERN UNION, NEW JERSEY
From 29-OCT-12 07:24:00 to 30-OCT-12 00:30:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Widespread moderate to major coastal flooding occurred along Newark Bay and the Arthur Kill as peak storm tides in New York Harbor surpassed all previously documented high water marks, including the October 31, 1991 and December 11, 1992 nor'easters and the recorded peak surge from Hurricane Irene in 2011.
Up to 3 to 6 feet of inundation was experienced in the Chemical Coast along the Arthur Kill and in the Elizabeth Port Authority Marine Terminal along Newark Bay. The inundation generally extended about 2 miles inland past the New Jersey Turnpike, while a few feet of inundation occurred 5 miles inland on the Rahway River.
This inundation caused areas of moderate to major damage to industrial complexes, such as the Bayway refinery. In addition, the Elizabeth Port System was disrupted for a week to repair road and rail ways, hundreds of displaced shipping containers, damaged electrical systems and other port cargo from the inundation. Also, over 10,000 cars were destroyed in the Elizabeth and Newark Port System from the salt water inundation.
The marina in the port area of Elizabeth, N.J. was destroyed in the tidal surge in Monday's overnight hours, according to Union County, N.J. spokesman Sebastian D���Elia. He said the marina was ���pretty much gone��� and that the boats were scattered, along with the surrounding neighborhood sustaining damage.
Flooding from the tidal surge also impacted 20-30 homes in the Trembly Point neighborhood of Linden, N.J., according to Union County spokesman Sebastian D'Elia.

Coastal Flood in HUDSON, NEW JERSEY
From 29-OCT-12 07:24:00 to 30-OCT-12 00:30:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Widespread major coastal flooding occurred along New York Harbor, the Hudson River, Newark Bay, and Hackensack River that exceeded the FEMA 100 year base flood elevations in many spots.
Peak storm tides surpassed all previously documented high water marks, including the October 31, 1991 and December 11, 1992 nor'easters and the recorded peak surge from Hurricane Irene in 2011.
The record storm tide levels along the Hudson River waterfront were from a peak storm surge of about 8 to 10 feet that coincided with normal high tides. These storm tides resulted in up to 4 to 7 feet of inundation along the Hoboken Waterfront, with up to 3 to 5 feet of inundation along the Jersey City Waterfront.  Widespread inundation of these cities extended 15 to 20 blocks west to the New Jersey Turnpike and New Jersey Transit lines.
In Jersey City, large sections of the city's downtown, including City Hall and the Jersey City Medical Center, were flooded and had to be evacuated. As high tide approached Monday Night, the Hudson River overflowed the wall at Exchange Place. Around the same time, Liberty Harbor spilled into the southern part of Marin Blvd. Both breaches caused water to rush down Columbus Drive and Marin Blvd. where they met near the Historic Downtown. From there, the flood spread throughout the low lying areas of Jersey City. At approximately 10:30 pm EST, the water reached maximum height. In Paulus Hook, there were only a few intersections spared. Those include the rectangle of intersections from Greene/Montgomery through Warren/Morris with the exception of Warren/Montgomery, which only flooded about a foot.
The New Jersey Transit main rail yard in Kearney was flooded by several feet of water, resulting in damage to nine dual-powered locomotive engines and 84 multi-level rail cars.

Significant inundation was also experienced across western portions of Hudson County along Newark Bay and the Hackensack River.  Up to 2 to 4 feet of inundation was experienced in low lying areas here.

Coastal Flood in EASTERN ESSEX, NEW JERSEY
From 29-OCT-12 07:24:00 to 30-OCT-12 00:30:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Widespread major coastal flooding occurred along Newark Bay, with moderate coastal flooding along the Passaic River, as peak storm tides in New York Harbor surpassed all previously documented high water marks, including the October 31, 1991 and December 11, 1992 nor'easters and the recorded peak from Hurricane Irene in 2011.
Up to 3 to 6 feet of inundation was experienced across the Newark Port System along Newark Bay. The inundation generally extended about 2 miles inland past the New Jersey Turnpike to US 1 & 9, while a few feet of inundation occurred 12 miles inland along the Passaic River.
This inundation caused major damage to the Newark Port System, which was disrupted for a week to repair road and rail ways, hundreds of displaced shipping containers, damaged electrical systems and other port cargo. Also, over 10,000 cars were destroyed in the Elizabeth and Newark Port System from the salt water inundation.
As high tide approached around 8 pm, the Passaic River inundated the East Ward of Newark, with streets like South and Raymond Boulevard becoming virtually impassable even to heavy-duty fire vehicles. Huge pools of deep water formed near Penn Station. Near Newark Liberty International Airport, Corbin Street and other access roads were under several inches to a few feet of water by 8 pm. At least five feet of water on the eastern end of Raymond Boulevard and elsewhere in the Ironbound area around 11 pm made it impossible for firefighers to immediately reach residents living near the Passaic River trapped in their homes by rising floodwater. The waters finally began to recede by about midnight.
As waters receded after midnight, firefighters were able to make additional rescues in the East Ward. Around 2:30 am, two people were pulled from their flooded Waydell Aveune home. Six workers were rescued around 3 am from the trailer where they took refuge from the flooding at 155 Raymond Boulevard.  Repeated attempts to reach the men failed before firefighters were able to surmount the high water in a sanitation department dump truck.

Coastal Flood in EASTERN BERGEN, NEW JERSEY
From 29-OCT-12 07:24:00 to 30-OCT-12 00:30:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Communities along the Hackensack River experienced two successive tidal cycles with at least moderate coastal flooding. The peak of this surge occurred Monday Night as Sandy made landfall in Southern New Jersey, with widespread moderate to areas of major coastal flooding along the Hackensack River.
Peak storm tides surpassed all previously documented high water marks, including the October 31, 1991 and December 11, 1992 nor'easters and the recorded peak surge from Hurricane Irene in 2011.
The most widespread damage occurred in the towns of Moonachie, Little Ferry, and Carlstadt, which were inundated with 4 to 5 feet of water as the surge up the Hackensack River Monday Night over topped the protective levees. This affected about 2000 residents in this area with approximately 200 residents having to be rescued from their homes. In addition, Teterboro airport was inundated with a few feet of water across most of the airport.