By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
It’s not exactly must-see TV, but the “Flood Cam” is back on.
Residents and visitors may once again view the webcam that livestreams images of one of Sea Isle City’s most flood-prone areas of town on a 24-hour basis.
The camera was offline since November because the nonprofit group that oversees it has been rebuilding its website from scratch.
The New Jersey Coastal Coalition expects to complete its new website in January, but was able to get the flood cam reactivated on Friday.
“The web designer worked very hard on this,” Tom Quirk, the coalition’s executive director, said in an interview.
Ever since it was launched in 2019, the flood cam has attracted thousands of views from residents and visitors who use it during storms to keep an eye on rising floodwaters at the intersection of 40th Street and Central Avenue.
Viewers may watch the livestream by clicking on a link on Sea Isle’s websites at seaislecitynj.us or visitsicnj.com. They may also go directly to the Coastal Coalition’s website at Floodcams | New Jersey Coastal Coalition (njcoastalcoalition.com).
Quirk noted that a few tweaks are still needed now that the webcam is back online. The date and time stamp for the webcam are wrong at this time and must be changed, he said.
The live video allows residents and visitors to watch flooding in real time, giving them a chance to move their cars to safety and take other steps to protect their property before it’s too late.
“I know that it has received thousands and thousands and thousands of hits. I know that whenever there’s a storm, traffic to our website goes through the roof,” Quirk said of the flood cam’s popularity.
The intersection of 40th and Central was chosen for the camera because that is where floodwater often begins in Sea Isle during coastal storms. Neil Byrne, the city’s floodplain manager and construction official, has described the intersection as a “barometer” for flooding throughout the island.
Byrne explained that the webcam is an important part of Sea Isle’s storm alert system when the town is threatened with flooding or other harsh weather.
“It is one of the means we use to get the message out about flooding,” Byrne said.
The flood cam is installed on Sea Isle’s Public Works building overlooking the intersection of 40th Street and Central Avenue.
The livestream broadcast in Sea Isle was part of a pilot program that may eventually include more flood cameras in other Jersey Shore towns that are members of the coastal coalition.
New Jersey Coastal Coalition began with 21 communities that joined together in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 to look for new ways to protect homeowners from flooding. The nonprofit organization has since grown to 39 member communities in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties.
Sea Isle was selected as the location for the first flood camera because of its strong support for the coalition over the years.
The camera was paid for by a $5,000 donation to the coalition by OceanFirst Bank.
