A weekend of storms and heavy rain fell in New Jersey, starting Friday and ending in the early morning hours on Monday. The rain pushed the Manasquan River over its banks and flooded the entire parking lot at Brice Park in Wall Township. All of the water drained into the larger rivers and bays and created even more problems along the coast. This also caused Lake Avenue in Bay Head to flood again.

“It’s tough, it’s really tough on the people who actually live here. Not so much for the drivers,” said Bay Head Mayor Bill Curtis.

A combination of storm runoff, days of onshore winds and now southerly winds, all combined to create nuisance sunny-day flooding. This is a problem that towns along Barnegat Bay see more than a dozen times a year.

“Probably even more than 20. It’s incredible,” Curtis said. “Right now, the winds right now are coming out of the southwest and it’s blowing all of the bay water into Bay Head.”

The Manasquan River crested at just over 15 feet, leaving parts of Brice Park underwater, and it came close to flooding the Lakewood-Allenwood Road bridge. Runoff from inland areas helped push those coastal areas up and over bulkheads. This is a problem Curtis says the town continues to address.

“We’re working with our environmental commission who is working with our county commissioners. They’ve come up with a plan for Bridge Avenue to elevate the road and to prevent it from going into the shops. The pitch of the road is maybe 6 inches,” Curtis said.

River levels are slowly dropping as of Monday afternoon. While there could still be some spotty bay flooding Monday evening, the worst of this flooding event is over.