Saturday morning’s high tide in Atlantic City, New Jersey, sent water levels to their highest point since Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Strong and persistent winds up to 45 mph have pushed the water more than 3 feet above even the normal high tide, referred to as storm surge. At 8 a.m.’s high tide, the water level had reached nearly 8 feet above normal low tide — around a foot lower than when Superstorm Sandy roared ashore in the Northeast almost 14 years ago.
Saturday also features a full moon, which means tides were already among the highest of the month.
With the nor’easter expected to stall off the coast this weekend, strong winds will continue to bring coastal flooding and inundation with each high tide cycle into Monday.
“It’s very concerning,” said Atlantic City Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Michael Famularo. “It’s just going to be more water in the streets. I mean, we’re still not calling for any evacuations because we think … if you’re in your house, you’re going to be safe. The problem is there will be water on the streets.”
Correction: A previous version of this post had the incorrect tide level. It was at 8 a.m.’s high tide.