By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Motorists, no doubt, have seen the ubiquitous yellow “Road Flooded When Flashing” signs while driving around Sea Isle City.
Altogether, there are 78 of the signs scattered throughout town as part of a $226,000 flood warning system considered the largest of its kind for any New Jersey municipality.
“When this system was first launched, it was sort of a groundbreaking thing to do,” Sea Isle spokeswoman Katherine Custer pointed out.
Although the road signs were unveiled in March 2019, Sea Isle officials are undertaking a public education campaign now to let residents and visitors know just how the flood warning system works and how it can protect them from dangerous stormwater.
“We want to do everything we can to notify the motoring public of flooding conditions,” Police Chief Tom McQuillen said.
McQuillen explained that each storm has unique characteristics that can make it unpredictable and heighten the danger. The flood signs act as an early warning system to protect people from the hazards.
“With this storm there may be flooding on one street and with the next storm there may be flooding on another street. Every time we get flooding, it’s going to be different,” McQuillen said.
Equipped with sensors, cameras and “a float system,” the flood warning network is controlled by a series of “master poles” that activate the flashing signs. The cameras allow police dispatchers to keep an eye on rising floodwaters. Dispatchers also have the ability to manually activate the signs during floods.
As part of the city’s public education campaign, an extensive explanation of how the signs work and the technology they use is posted on the Sea Isle Police Department’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SICPD/.
“We’ve never really explained to the public the nuts and bolts of the system. This is our effort to do that,” McQuillen said.
Sea Isle, a low-lying barrier island that is vulnerable to stormwater, has a broad strategy to reduce flooding, including road construction, drainage projects, a new pumping station, berms and even rock walls in some bayfront neighborhoods. The flood warning signs are a key part of the city’s multi-layered approach.
“These signs are one more tool in our workbox to make people aware of flooding hazards,” Custer said.
Among the locations around town, the signs have been installed in flood-prone areas, giving motorists ample warning to turn around and head back instead of driving into stormwater.
Custer noted that not all of Sea Isle’s visitors are familiar with the local roads and flood-prone neighborhoods, so the signs will alert them to the dangers in real time.
“The system’s main purpose is to warn and protect the public,” she said.
Major roads have the flood warning signs, including the three entryways into town. The cost of the warning system was shared between Sea Isle and Cape May County. Landis Avenue, one of the main corridors in Sea Isle, is a county road.
At the same time it has launched the public education campaign, Sea Isle is fine-tuning the flood warning system to ensure the accuracy of the sensors that detect rising stormwater.
The tweaks are being done by the contractors that supplied the flood warning network to Sea Isle. McQuillen and Custer both said in interviews Tuesday the system will be even better and more reliable when the work is completed.
McQuillen described the system as “99 percent” reliable, but said it has gone through some “growing pains” in its first year of operation.
“It’s a work in progress. We feel that we’re getting there,” he said. “Part of that is this (public) outreach that is more than we did initially.”
