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Tropical Storm Irene struck the State of New Jersey between August 27 and 28, 2011. Irene was reclassified from a hurricane to a tropical storm just prior to making landfall in New Jersey. The storm caused the largest coastal evacuation in State history, record flooding on many rivers, power outages to over 700,000 residents, and at least 12 fatalities (New Jersey State Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2014).
The statewide rainfall average was approximately 7 inches, making Tropical Storm Irene New Jersey’s largest rainstorm in over a century. Portions of Monmouth, Union, Morris, and Passaic Counties received in excess of 10 inches of rainfall. See graphical display of rainfall.
A total of 6 dams failed as a result of the ensuing floods, and 51 dams were damaged.
The heavy rains flooded both major and local roadways, causing hundreds of road closures. Portions of State Route 3 in Bergan County; U.S. Route 46 in Essex County; and I-80, State Route 20, State Route 23, U.S. 202 and U.S. 64 in Passaic County, all remained flooded for days following the event. In Morris County, a portion of I-287 collapsed. An aerial survey of Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, and Somerset Counties was performed on August 30, 2011 and found that at least 2,080 homes suffered major damage. (New Jersey State Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2014). Overall, Tropical Storm Irene resulted in over $760 million in property damages in New Jersey (NOAA, National Climatic Data Center, 2013).
Inspection teams, consisting of Division engineers, performed inspections to assess damages and hazards associated with the area dams. A total of 119 dams were inspected by Division engineers in the week following the event. The following table identifies the dams that failed as a result of the storm:
Dam
Name |
Township |
County |
New Jersey No Name # 89 Dam |
North Hanover Township |
Burlington |
Stone's Dam |
Milford Borough |
Hunterdon |
Saffin Pond Dam |
Jefferson Township |
Morris |
Cassville Dam |
Jackson Township |
Ocean |
Cedar Bridge Dam |
Brick Township |
Ocean |
Lenartowicz Dam |
Vernon Township |
Sussex |
August 2011 was the wettest month on record in New Jersey since record keeping began in 1895. On average 16.64 inches fell statewide in August with portions of Cumberland County receiving over 24 inches. See graphical display of rainfall.
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