Evacuations are underway in Egg Harbor Township in Atlantic County as Hurricane Erin’s impacts are being felt across New Jersey on Thursday.
Guests in motels and residents of homes in low-lying areas of town were being evacuated due to flooding, Egg Harbor Township Police Chief Frederick Spano told NJ Advance Media around 8:30 p.m.
“We do have significant flooding in the West Atlantic City section, with waters encroaching on some of the resident houses,” Spano said.
While no evacuations have been ordered, in Wildwood, one of the of the city’s major roads, Rio Grande Avenue, was closed due to high flood waters, according to the City of Wildwood Police Department.
Photos and videos posted to social media also showed flooding in Long Beach Island, Atlantic City, Ocean City, Manasquan, Margate City and other areas of the Jersey Shore.
Coastal flood warnings had been issued in advance of Erin as forecasters called for high waves that could bring 2 to 3 feet of ocean water inland along the Shore.
Coastal flood warnings are in effect through Saturday in Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties.
Coastal flood advisories have been issued in Camden, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Middlesex, Salem and Union counties through Saturday.
Wind advisories are in place from 10 a.m. Thursday to 12 a.m. Friday in Atlantic and Ocean counties.
Hurricane Erin, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, formed on Aug. 11 near the Cabo Verde Islands, a few hundred miles from Africa’s western coast. While the hurricane is not making landfall on the East Coast, it is bringing rip tides, high waves and the potential for flooding as it moves northward.
“We are expecting to see the worst of the storm today into tomorrow as it moves past New Jersey with high surf and rip currents,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday afternoon before he declared a state of emergency.
Earlier this week, more than a dozen Jersey Shore beaches issued swimming bans as forecasters warned of life-threatening conditions for boaters and swimmers.
The National Weather Service has said the hurricane could cause the roughest surf conditions on the Jersey Shore since Tropical Storm Isaias in August 2020. That storm produced 10-foot to 12-foot breakers in the surf zone.
Farther out offshore on Thursday, waves could get as high as 15 to 17 feet, forecasters say, posing a threat to small boats.
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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
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