NJ Blizzard: Recovery Continues Following Sunday High Tide in Ocean City

Ocean City, NJ -- Ocean City experienced its lowest high tide in two days Sunday morning, and water that is currently in the streets should recede by Sunday afternoon, Emergency Management Coordinator Frank Donato said.

Sunday morning’s high tide at the 9th Street Bridge crested at just over 7 feet mean low water.

“It was still a good tide,” Donato said. “Some of the low-lying areas will have some problems this morning.”

As expected, the wind shifted northwest overnight, which should bring the water back out to sea.

The Ocean City Free Public Library was closed on Sunday but will resume its normal schedule on Monday.

The Ocean City School District announced all schools would open at normal time on Monday.

Ocean City’s regular schedule for trash pickup resumes on Monday. See tge “Trash and Recycle FAQ” on the city’s website for more information on how to dispose of material following the storm.

The causeways have also reopened.

Saturday night’s high tide hit 7.8 feet, after the Saturday morning tide hit 8.04, which is on par with the Nor’easter that hit the city in November of 2009, but not as high as what was experienced during Superstorm Sandy.

Still, the storm was worse than expected, and the Ocean City police and fire departments were very busy, particularly when it came to rescuing people from cars.

RELATED: NJ Blizzard: Two Men Escape Flooding SUV in Ocean City

“Some people didn’t move their cars in time and when they went to move them, they got stuck. Some people just got caught by surprise,” Donato said.

Winds were 50 mph with wind gusts of 63 mph on Saturday, but it died down considerably on Saturday night. Donato was hoping a forecast that called for a change in wind direction overnight proved to be true. A northwest wind would blow water back out to sea. On Saturday, a northeast wind pulled the water in, resulting in water coming into the streets and ultimately freezing.

RELATED: NJ Blizzard: Flooding Comes to Ocean City; Access to Causeways Closed

The worst part of the storm was supposed to be 3 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, but Coastal Flood, High Wind and Winter Storm warnings remain in effect through Sunday morning.

After that, city officials can begin to assess any long term damage the island might have suffered.

“The Army Corps of Engineers still hadn’t touched up the south end after the October storm,” Donato said. “We’ll have to see if we can get any sand we might have lost this weekend added to that project. The north end was completely done and there were no plans to revisit it.”

Donato said he was expecting Sunday morning’s high tide to be comparable to Saturday night’s. That tide is set for 8:11 a.m.

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