While the coastal storm pummeling the New Jersey shore appears to be diminishing, moderate to major flood is still expected.
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“The window is not shut yet, we still could see an east coast landfall but right now the best bet, its going to slide off and stay off shore”, Cifelli said. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed”. By the time it makes its closest approach to New Jersey, we’re looking at a category two, possibly a one and then a tropical storm shortly there after.
The first, which has been dumping rain over the state for days, is expected to continue through Friday, at least. But confidence in the longer term forecast remains low, the center said.
Forecasters say gusts could reach 60 miles per hour in a few spots, knocking down limbs and power lines. Chris Christie is urging residents to confront property owners who have helped block a plan to erect protective sand dunes in areas hit hard by Superstorm Sandy three years ago. Christie said Friday, October 2, 2015 that he found the blue fleece that he famously wore during the recovery from Superstorm Sandy, but that he has chose to wear other fleeces given to him by towns across the state. Clams, oysters and mussels are filter feeders that can accumulate harmful bacteria carried into waterways from the land by storm water runoff.
Any residents who park in low-lying areas are encouraged to move their vehicles to higher ground in advance of the storm.
If the storm veers further into the Atlantic Ocean, it will still mean rough surf and more beach erosion for New Jersey, which could weaken coastal defenses for the rest of the fall and winter. In recent days, a few weather models had predicted Joaquin could make landfall somewhere between the southeast states and Long Island.
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Christie said Thursday during a statehouse news briefing that parts of the state along the Delaware Bay and in Atlantic and Cape May counties are most likely to be affected by floods, but he noted it’s too early to say whether Joaquin will strike New Jersey.
