While most of New Jersey prepares for a major snowstorm with the potential for up to two feet of snow, towns along the Jersey Shore are bracing for the potential for damage from coastal flooding and high winds.
Many shore towns may also get between 4 and 10 inches of snow.
The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood warning from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday in all four Shore counties and along the Delaware Bay. The weather service said moderate coastal flooding is expected to occur for several hours around Tuesday morning's high tide.
Shore communities should expect a storm surge of 2 to 3 feet, with wave heights up to 9 feet breaking onshore, according to the NWS.
Minor to moderate property damage as well as significant beach erosion could result in areas close to ocean beaches along the coast and along the Delaware Bay.
In Belmar, crews started pushing sand on the beaches Sunday to construct temporary berms. Borough Mayor Matthew Doherty said the main concern in the Shore town is the flooding on the beachfront and along the Shark River.
Officials anticipate having to shut down portions of Route 35 during the flooding periods, he said. The strong winds will prevent the water in the bay from going out to sea, and with the added precipitation, it causes flooding during the high tide cycles, Doherty said.
"The winds, that's something we are able to mitigate against pretty well," he said, adding that residents are asked to secure their outdoor household items. "It's the flooding that's much more of a challenge."
Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said highway emergency assistance teams will be sent to "strategic locations" to assist motorists stranded in flood waters.
But, Golden said, it's best for residents to avoid driving during the storm.
"Please stay off the roads for your own safety so that public works can do its job and clear the roadways," Golden said. "Safety works when we all work together."
In Ocean County, officials said they are more concerned with the strong wind gusts, which forecasters say could reach up to 60 mph along the coast.
Stacy Ferris, Mantoloking's police chief and Office of Emergency Management coordinator, said the threat of high winds is especially concerning because the borough has many active construction sites with debris around them.
She said officials have begun contacting contractors asking them to clear the areas and secure items around the sites.
Along the beachfront, where a steel wall is exposed and steep drop-offs up to 8 feet, crews will not be pushing up sand.
"Logistically, there's no way to put bulldozers on the beach, and to waste the sand, it's just not what we're looking to do right now," Ferris said. "The wall is secure, it has been performing exactly as designed. It's exposed, but it will make it through the nor'easter."
In Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, police Chief Robert Burnaford says he, too, is not as concerned about coastal flooding. There will be no temporary dune preparation, he said. And the main concern with flooding along the bay, he said, is if the bridge leading to the mainland in Ship Bottom becomes blocked due to flooding.
"I haven't heard or read anything that it says it won't be passable," Burnaford said. "But that can certainly change."
Officials in Tuckerton are asking residents to secure trash cans and other outside items.
Atlantic and Cape May will be largely spared of high snow totals though coastal flooding will pose a problem.
Officials in Brigantine are warning residents not to drive their vehicles through flood waters and to secure their property.
Vincent Jones, the Office of Emergency Management coordinator in Atlantic County, said officials are anticipating flooding on the Black Horse Pike and the White Horse Pike will make these roads unpassable.
"We're prepared to reroute traffic away from those areas," Jones said.
He said residents should be patient and not drive through flood waters. Even if they make it through, Jones said, the salt water causes "irreversible damage" to vehicles.
"We watch people continue to do this and then they become stranded and then first responders have to come rescue them," he said. "It's going to take a while for the water to drain out."
NJ Advance Media reporter Jeff Goldman contributed to this report.
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