OC Flooding Improving In Some Spots, Worse In Others, Locals Say

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Is Ocean City holding up better or worse during coastal floods? That depends on your location, according to residents and owners.

Ocean City tides reached the level of "moderate" coastal flooding last week, according to the National Weather Service. Conditions left much of the city flooded, even without rain.

Compared to this level of tidal flooding in the past, some locals saw less inundation outside their properties. But other areas fared worse than they have in the past, members of the public said.

"As a part-time resident for more than 40 years, I had never seen such depth of water on West Ave. traveling south from 34th Street," said Joan Parker Frizzell. "I was disappointed that the police did not erect barricades and direct traffic to higher roads such as Central and Asbury."

Frizzell said it looked like much of the water came from sewer openings. Stephanie Mellor Doyle, who lives at 13th Street and West Avenue, says she's noticed water sitting on top of storm drains this summer at 13th Street and Asbury Avenue.

Doyle said her area retained significant flooding for non-rainy conditions.

"Flooding this weekend with no rain was akin to a nor'easter a few years back with torrential rain for sustained periods," Doyle said. "My side typically doesn't experience problems, but had water over the curb at the corner on Thursday night."

Resident Donna Moore, an environmental activist, noticed worse flooding than she's seen in the past at the foot of the Howard S. Stainton Memorial Causeway on the westbound side.

"The wall that is on the open space — it’s impeding the open space from performing as a flooding mitigation provision and absorbing flood water," Moore said of the bridge, which connects Ocean City to Somers Point.

Owners and residents say some areas have improved though. Kelly Hudak noticed progress at Third Street and Haven Avenue.

Suzanne Hornick — founder and chair of civilian group Ocean City, NJ Flooding Committee — said her area between 29th and 33rd streets was "bone-dry" through all the flooding.

The City completed a drainage project earlier this year from 26th to 34th Street between West and Bay avenues. Officials identified the area as one of Ocean City's most flood-prone.

Hornick said the same approach won't work everywhere, but it shows Ocean City can make progress.

"It worked beautifully, and that tells us that we have the technology to remediate and mitigate our flooding island-wide," Hornick said.

"Where the flood remediation project was completed, we had no flooding for the first time in decades," said Roseanne Monfardini, referring to 31st and 33rd streets between Haven and Simpson avenues.

The coastal flooding didn't coincide with precipitation. That left some worrying about what might happen if it rains during tide levels like last week's.

Jackie Trotter Wolchko said that at on Haven Avenue, road flooding extended from 49th to 51st Street. If it rained during last week's coastal flooding, water would have reached her garage and lower common area, she said.

"Prior to Sandy, we experienced street flooding but never to this degree," Wolchko said. "Since Sandy, the flooding is dramatically worse and occurs on a regular basis. The infrastructure is old and not designed to handle the growth in development."

Members of the public have offered different ways to improve the island's flooding mitigation. A common response Patch heard Wednesday was to renovate and-or create bulkheads.

"It would just make me happy if the city would make all businesses and homes, condos have a bulk head," said Lori Riss. She added that there isn't one in her area on Third Street and Bay Avenue.

A few people also suggested a temporary break from building in Ocean City, which has been called overdeveloped.

"There should be a moratorium on building until all flooding issues have been studied and resolved," Wolchko said. "It is time to face the music."

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app. Download here. Follow Ocean City Patch on Facebook. Have a news tip? Email josh.bakan@patch.com.