How much rain fell today: Shore sees power outages, school closures and more

Jenna Calderón, Juan Carlos Castillo and Amanda Oglesby, Asbury Park Press
·4 min read
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Overnight rainfall across Monmouth and Ocean totaled more than three inches in some areas, and storm conditions resulted in flooding and downed trees that have left around 17,000 residents without power.

Chris Hoenig, spokesperson for Jersey Central Power and Light, said there are around 31,000 customers being affected by outages across the state, with 17,000 of them being in central Jersey, mainly Ocean and Monmouth counties.

Waves crash into the Point Pleasant Beach side of the Manasquan Inlet Monday, December 18, 2023. Overnight rainfall across Monmouth and Ocean totaled more than three inches in some areas, and storm conditions resulted in flooding and downed trees that have left around 17,000 residents without power.
Waves crash into the Point Pleasant Beach side of the Manasquan Inlet Monday, December 18, 2023. Overnight rainfall across Monmouth and Ocean totaled more than three inches in some areas, and storm conditions resulted in flooding and downed trees that have left around 17,000 residents without power.

The cause of the outages is largely damage from trees that fell over during the storm, Hoenig said. Freehold, Howell and Marlboro were the hardest hit, and Colts Neck and Wall Township received a good amount of damage, too.

"You have the wind, and then winds don't need to be as strong when you've got the amount of rain we've had," he said. "It weakens the soil so it's a lot easier for trees to come down."

Holmdel Public Schools are closed today, according to their website, due to "ongoing road closures rendering certain routes impassable."

"This decision has been made out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety of our students and staff," the message from the superintendent said.

A man photographs the rough ocean surf on the Manasquan side of the inlet Monday, December 18, 2023. Overnight rainfall across Monmouth and Ocean totaled more than three inches in some areas, and storm conditions resulted in flooding and downed trees that have left around 17,000 residents without power.
A man photographs the rough ocean surf on the Manasquan side of the inlet Monday, December 18, 2023. Overnight rainfall across Monmouth and Ocean totaled more than three inches in some areas, and storm conditions resulted in flooding and downed trees that have left around 17,000 residents without power.

Bay Head Elementary School is also closed due to "extreme flooding," according to their site. In Englishtown, Main Street in the area of Gordons Corner road is shut down due to flooding, according to Nixle.

Hoenig said the company is working to set estimated repair times. Right now, they're still in "damage-assessment mode," he said, with over 200 line workers and 144 foresters on duty.

Alex Staarmann, meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Mt. Holly, said about one to three inches of rain fell across Ocean and Monmouth counties. The lowest rainfall came right along the immediate coast in areas like Long Beach Island, Island Beach and Pt. Pleasant, which had closer to one-inch totals.

Farther inland, Lakewood, Jackson and Freehold saw closer to three inches, Staarmann said.

Here are some of the rainfall totals from the National Weather Service:

Monmouth County rainfall totals

  • Bradley Beach: 1.24 in.

  • Howell: 3.13 in

  • Long Branch: 1.22 in.

  • Freehold: 3.78 in

  • Neptune: 1.57 in.

  • Monmouth Beach: 1.43 in

Ocean County rainfall totals

  • Little Egg Harbor: 1.91 in.

  • Point Pleasant: 1.79 in

  • Toms River: 2.65 in.

  • Brick: 2.15 in.

  • Jackson: 3.27 in.

  • Berkeley: 3.19 in.

But the heaviest rain is over, with light rain continuing through around 1 p.m., he said.

No river flood warnings are posted for either county at the moment, but there is still a coastal flood advisory in effect for the next high tide cycle, he said.

"We have gotten several reports of some roadway flooding," Staarmann said. "We're expecting some...minor tidal flooding," he said.

Staarmann said areas along the Barnegat Bay will see the greatest impacts of that.

Elsewhere in the state, the rainfall reached over five inches:

Statewide rainfall totals

  • Ridgewood, Bergen County: 5.17 in.

  • Ringwood, Passaic County: 5.1 in.

  • Newark, Union County: 2.83 in.

  • Jersey City, Hudson County: 2.36 in.

  • Hammonton, Atlantic County: 4.83 in.

  • Mullica, Atlantic County: 4.17 in.

  • Egg Harbor, Atlantic County: 2.06 in.

  • Trenton, Mercer County: 3.33 in.

  • Cherry Hill, Camden County: 2.8 in.

  • Oswego Lake, Burlington County: 3.15 in.

And power outages aren't limited to Ocean and Monmouth counties. As of 10:00 a.m. Monday, there were at least 46,200 homes without electricity.

A Verizon work crew works on replacing a broken telephone pole on the corner of Route 9 South and Route 33 in the rain in Freehold, NJ Monday, December 18, 2023.
A Verizon work crew works on replacing a broken telephone pole on the corner of Route 9 South and Route 33 in the rain in Freehold, NJ Monday, December 18, 2023.

Jersey Central Power and Light / First Energy costumers

  • Monmouth County- 15,592 homes without electricity.

  • Morris County- 7,593 homes without electricity.

  • Ocean County- 2,480 homes without electricity.

  • Passaic County- 1,743 homes without electricity.

  • Sussex County- 1,122 homes without electricity.

  • Somerset County- 1,153 homes without electricity.

  • Hunterdon County- 487 homes without electricity.

  • Warren County- 455 homes without electricity.

  • Warren County- 202 homes without electricity.

Atlantic City Electric

  • Atlantic County- 460 homes without electricity.

  • Cumberland County- 416 homes without electricity.

  • Gloucester County- 355 homes without electricity.

PSEG

  • Middlesex County- 2,538 homes without electricity.

  • Hudson County- 1,824 homes without electricity.

  • Bergen County- 1,383 homes without electricity.

  • Passaic County- 1,318 homes without electricity.

  • Somerset County- 1,216 homes without electricity.

  • Essex County- 769 homes without electricity.

  • Burlington County- 483 homes without electricity.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rain totals New Jersey: Shore sees power outages, school closures