Areas along the Jersey Shore experience flooding from heavy rain

<p>Heavy rain Monday caused some flooding along the Jersey Shore, including in parts of Belmar.</p>

News 12 Staff

Sep 10, 2018, 2:56 PM

Updated 2,215 days ago

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Heavy rain Monday caused some flooding along the Jersey Shore, including in parts of Belmar.
Another round of coastal flooding was expected during the evening high tide. Some Belmar residents tell News 12 New Jersey that they are frustrated by the constant flooding.
Kerry McNally says that the basement of her home has flooded multiple times since she moved into the house in April.
“The Memorial Day weekend flood…we had over a foot of water in the basement. And then probably about six to eight times we’ve had monumental flooding in the basement,” McNally says. “A couple weeks ago we had fish in the basement. We just spent all our time, every morning my husband’s down in the basement sweeping water into the drains.”
A combination of heavy rain, east winds, astronomically high tides and ocean waves sent high water into the Shark River and onto the river beach by Route 35. Route 35 was closed for a time.
"Growing up we did have some issues with the river flooding at high tide, but since [Superstorm] Sandy, it's been out of control,” says Belmar resident Theresa Pringle.
Pringle says that some Belmar homes have been raised since Sandy. But she says that it hasn’t stopped the flooding.
“The rest of us are thinking, ‘How much longer until we get hit again like that,’” she says.
McNally says that she and her husband are stuck because they have put too much money into their house already and won’t be able to sell it again.
A 2015 dredging project deepened channels, but according to neighbors, it did nothing to stop the frequent floods. The mayor of Belmar says the town simply doesn’t have any answers.
State climatologist David Robinson ruled out sea level rise for the increase in tidal flooding but did say it's possible storms like Sandy increased the amount of sand and sediments in back bay regions and led to a higher numbers of tidal floods.