Stepbrothers Sean Harbison, 11, left, and Jack Mills, 10, are soaking wet after wading in floodwater on West Jersey Avenue.
BY DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Jack Mills, 10, and his 11-year-old stepbrother, Sean Harbison, took an impromptu swim Friday afternoon in Sea Isle City.
Not in a swimming pool or in the ocean, mind you, but in the street.
Drenching rain from Tropical Storm Fay triggered widespread street flooding throughout Sea Isle that was deep enough for the two boys to take the plunge on West Jersey Avenue.
“It’s really fun,” Jack said. “It’s feels like I’m at the beach.”
Sean agreed that it was fun. “The water is deep,” he said. “It’s warm, too.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK_ukKhznv8
High winds, soaking rain and flash flooding spawned by the coastal storm pelted Sea Isle throughout Friday, but no major damage was reported. Overall, Fay was more of an annoyance than a destructive storm.
“We have had some flooded streets and heavy rain, but we seemed to have fared pretty well so far,” city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said.
However, Custer expressed concern about some motorists driving through flooded areas, possibly putting themselves and their passengers in danger and also creating damaging wakes of water.
“In addition to putting the drivers and passengers in harm’s way, the wakes that vehicles make can literally knock down pedestrians and damage private property such as garage doors,” she said.
Strong winds blow down a large tent that had been erected for outdoor dining at VFW Post 1963.
City Council approved a new ordinance in 2019 that effectively declares the entire town a “no wake zone.”
Motorists in Sea Isle risk being pulled over and ticketed by police if they speed through flooded areas and churn up destructive wakes of water that slam into garage doors or other private property.
The law prohibits motorists from sending waves of water over the curb line when street flooding is at least 6 inches deep.
Tropical Storm Fay dumped enough rain on Sea Isle to inundate some streets with much more than 6 inches of water.
Stepbrothers Sean Harbison, 11, left, and Jack Mills, 10, are soaking wet after wading in floodwater on West Jersey Avenue.
C.J. Mills, Jack’s father and Sean’s stepfather, brought the two boys up to the playground on John F. Kennedy Boulevard after flooding forced him to close his Landis Avenue takeout eatery, Drifters.
“It’s a ghost town out in front,” Mills said of the scene near Drifters. “We had 2 feet of water. Once the water subsides, we will open back up.”
While he waited for the stormwater to recede, Mills watched in amusement as Jack and Sean splashed around in the flooding that had ponded on West Jersey Avenue behind the JFK Boulevard playground.
“This happens every year,” Mills said of Sea Isle’s propensity to flood during storms.
A Jeep kicks up a spray of water while driving through flooding on Landis Avenue near 37th Street
Throughout Thursday and Friday, the Sea Isle Police Department repeatedly issued weather alerts to the public warning of strong winds, heavy rain and flash flooding.
One motorist driving a white BMW sedan got caught in floodwater at the intersection of 43rd Street and Central Avenue. The car died.
Jake Padula and Kishan Trivedi, two vacationers from Passaic County, waded into the water to try to help the stranded motorist.
“She thought she could take it through the intersection, but she just stopped,” Trivedi said of the motorist. We’re trying to push the car, but she can’t get it into neutral or get it restarted.”
The driver didn’t appear to be in danger, but she was stuck in her BMW because floodwater would start to enter the car whenever she opened the door.
Custer said city officials don’t want motorists to take the chance of driving through floodwater because they may not know that it can be deep.
“We want people to turn around and not to drown,” she said.
Kishan Trivedi, left, and Jake Padula help a stranded motorist stuck in floodwater at the intersection of 43rd Street and Central Avenue.
