Flash Flood in New Jersey, August 20 to 21, 1997

Torrential rain fell across southeast New Jersey as a low pressure system developed over the Delmarva Peninsula and slowly moved northeast across southern New Jersey. A series of thunderstorms developed along this low pressure system's frontal boundaries and trained or moved over the same areas. This caused extremely heavy rain to fall over several hours across eastern parts of Atlantic County. The county bore the brunt of the storm and the flooding with storm totals in excess of 8 inches from Estell Manor through Galloway Township. The storm total at the Atlantic City International Airport of 13.52 inches represented by far a greater than 100 year storm for the area. A 100-year-storm for this area is 7.25 inches. While total damage was estimated at 54 million dollars, miraculously the only injury occurred the afternoon of the 21st when a Galloway Township boy injured his back and neck diving into the flood waters. Several major roadways and bridges collapsed or were completely washed out. The governor declared a state of emergency for the county on the 21st and the county was eventually declared a federal disaster area.In Galloway Township, the hardest hit area, about 1,100 homes suffered damage. This represented about 10 percent of all the township housing. The most damage was occurred in the Pomona Oaks Development as 75 homes were badly flooded as a drainage pond filled and backed up. The Osprey Court Development was also badly flooded. The Atlantic City Medical Center was closed to emergencies as its first floor and basement were flooded. Emergency personnel pumped out 1.8 million gallons of water from the center. The adjacent Bacharach Rehabilitation Center was also flooded. Flooding also damaged the Absegami High School and several facilities at the Richard Stockton College.The Atlantic City International Airport was closed at 1230 a.m. EDT on the 21st when power was knocked out to the runways and street flooding closed access to the airport. The airport reopened at 1130 a.m. EDT on the 21st, but had to shut down again at sunset as the runway lights were still not working. The FAA Technical Center was also closed. In Hamilton Township, three major bridges were closed: The Sugar Hill Bridge on County Road 559, The Gravelly Run Bridge (County Road 559 also) on Ocean Heights Avenue and the bridge between the Lake Lenape Dam and the Great Harbor River. Persons in homes near these bridges were evacuated to a senior citizen center. Working around the clock, the Sugar Hill Bridge was repaired in time for the Labor Day Weekend. The two other bridges were repaired by Late September. Two New Jersey Transit buses and 40 passengers became stuck in the flood waters near the Hamilton Mall and had to be rescued. Five thousand books in the Atlantic Community College were damaged by the flooding. Parts of the Black Horse Pike (U.S. Route 40) were closed because the road washed out. Sections of U.S. Route 40 were also closed in Egg Harbor Township. In Abesecon, a 180 foot section of the New Jersey Transit train track was closed after the gravel bed was washed away. In Pleasantville, the motels around U.S. Routes 30 and 40 were evacuated because of the heavy rain and back bay flooding. Several people had to be rescued from their vehicles. At the water treatment plant pumping station, the sediment rate was above acceptable standards. Even though Atlantic City proper escaped the heavy rain, residents had to boil their tap water for several days to make it potable because the city's reservoir in Egg Harbor Township flooded. The United States Geological Survey Gage on the Tuckahoe River at Head of River reached a new record crest of 9.1 feet. This represented a greater than 100 year recurrence interval.To put the storm total of 13.52 inches at the Atlantic City International Airport in perspective, the all-time certified 24 hour rainfall record for the state of New Jersey is 14.81 inches in Tuckerton (Ocean County) on August 19, 1939. The 11.12 inches of rain that fell through midnight EST on the 20th, was a new all-time daily record. The previous 24 hour record was 6.46 inches set on July 10, 1949. The 13.52 inches also broke the PREVIOUS ALL-TIME MONTHLY RECORD of 13.09 inches set in July of 1959. August 1997 would have a new rainfall record of 16.12 inches at the airport. Other storm totals from Atlantic County included 12.7 inches in Mays Landing, 12.6 inches in Estell Manor, and 10.21 inches in Pleasantville.