Flooding, Storm Cleanup Continues In NJ; See How Much Rain Fell

ASBURY PARK, NJ — Asbury Park, Ocean Township and Neptune City received 5.65 inches of rain in 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service.

That's from Sunday night throughout Monday, and the deluge came down as JCP&L power crews were still trying to restore electric power that cut out Friday, when fast-moving, powerful wind storms tore across the state.

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Mario Magriplis is the owner of the Blue Swan diner on Rt. 35 in Ocean Twp. He said he watched in horror Monday as flash flood waters suddenly became waist deep on the highway outside his restaurant.

The water rose in less than 30 minutes, he said.

"This area has flooded before, but never at this level," said Magriplis. "There's a small stream next to us, and wetlands behind it, so this area has flooded, but never like this ... I would say the flooding started at about 10 a.m. We had just had a heavy rainstorm. It rained so hard, so many inches in such a short amount of time. It happened really fast. It literally took under 30 minutes for this entire area to flood."

People abandoned their cars and waded through the flooding to get to the safety of his restaurant, which is elevated and did not get any water inside.

"It was scary. A couple people, some elderly, fell in the water and our staff and others helped them," he said. "Thankfully, everyone survived."

To the north, Long Branch received 4.29 inches of rain, and to the south, Spring Lake received 3.64 inches of rain, according to this map from the National Weather Service.

Ocean County received less than an inch of rain Monday, and the rest of Monmouth County received anywhere from two to three inches — not enough to cause serious flooding.

But the 5.65 inches of rain that came down on Oakhurst, Wanamassa, Shark River Hills and Neptune quickly overflowed creeks and storm basins. The roof at the Ocean Twp. BJ's also collapsed during the heavy rainstorm.

A total of 350,000 JCP&L customers lost electric power over the weekend. As of Tuesday, there are still just under 20,000 JCP&L customers in New Jersey that don't have electricity restored. The company restored power to 320,000 customers so far.

Oakhurst, Wanamassa, Shark River Hills, Neptune City and Long Branch all flooded as well, and dozens of people had to be rescued from cars and homes in all those towns.

In Asbury Park, Wesley Lake breached its banks and flooded nearby streets. A police officer rescued a woman and her infant who were trapped in their car in rising flood waters, among other flooding rescues made in Asbury Park.

The worst of the flooding appeared to be in Ocean Township. The Point Pleasant Beach Fire Dept. said it was called into Ocean to help pull people from flooded cars and homes. The Wanamassa Fire Company said they received 20 calls throughout Monday to rescue people.

Magriplis said the flood water started to recede at about 2 p.m. Monday.

Monday: Wesley Lake In Asbury Park Floods Its Banks

See Video Of BJ's Roof Collapse In Monmouth County