Weather Service Says Sandy to Make Direct Hit Here

Hurricane Sandy has hurried its pace to make landfall. According to the National Weather Service in Mt. Holly, the storm is barreling toward the United States and is expected to make a direct hit to our region.
“Options for it to miss us have run out. This is our worst case scenario,” said a spokesman for the National Weather Service.
As of 2 p.m.today, the center of the storm is approximately 110 miles southeast of Atlantic City and is moving northwest at 28 mph. The center is expected to make landfall along, or just south of, the southern New Jersey Coast. According to the National Hurricane Center, maximum sustained winds are 90 mph.
Rainfall amounts of 4 – 8 inches are expected. Residents are being told to expect strong, damaging, sustained winds of 45-55 mph over a period of 24 to 48 hours with gusts over 75 mph with extremely heavy rainfall. High tide is expected throughout the county between 8 and 9 p.m. Also affecting the tide will be an astronomical full moon.
Dangerous wave action will combine with coastal coastal flooding. Twelve to 20 foot breakers will occur in the surf zone for the remainder of today and tonight. The barrier islands will be cut off from the mainland. Breaches in the barrier islands will likely occur during this evening’s high tide as the center of Sandy nears.
A 10 to 12 foot storm tide is expected along the Atlantic Coast and lower Delaware Bay which will result in more record coastal flooding. An eight to 10 foot storm tide is expected along the middle and upper portions of Delaware Bay, which will bring moderate to major coastal flooding. Any shift of the storm track further south will result in record flooding up the Delaware Bay.
Accuweather has stated,”Sandy is a hurricane wrapped in a winter storm.”
According to expert senior meterologist Steve Wistar, “Sandy is unfolding as the Northeast’s Katrina.”