I was planning to write today about the gourmet cooking class I recently experienced at The Grape Escape in Dayton, NJ. But there’s enough news reporter left in me to know when the news headline has to trump the feature story (check back for a complete post on my ravioli making venture next week). Instead, we’re offering a quick Hurricane Irene rundown of where to check for news and updates on Hurricane Irene as the day progresses, focusing on Monmouth and Ocean County, New Jersey (home of The Write Room’s editors as well as many of their friends, family members and colleagues).
As of press time, 4:00 PM, Saturday August 27, it’s been raining for about 90 minutes in much of Monmouth County, and a bit longer in Ocean County as we await the arrival of Irene. The storm, currently moving along the Virginia coast and toward the Delmarva Peninsula, remains a Category 1 Hurricane and is on track to reach New Jersey tomorrow morning. Although the storm has appeared to have weakened slightly, there is still extreme danger all along the New Jersey coastline due to not only the high winds but because of the expected rain and the storm surge. The storm surge is expected to be extremely severe because the storm will hit during high tide and a new moon. Weather reports say to expect between 5-10 inches of rain and perhaps as much as 15 inches in some areas including in New York and Long Island.
According to the most up-to-date news in Monmouth and Ocean counties, residents of most beach towns and the barrier islands have been evacuated. In a press conference earlier today, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said that anyone remaining in the highest risk areas should evacuate now because at some point tonight, “the state will not be able to move people.” In Monmouth County, shelters are open at Holmdel High School and at Wall Township High School, although the Asbury Park Press has already reported that the shelter at Wall High School is at capacity.
I’ve been following the storm mostly online, (as husband and son are watching English Premier League soccer and a Doctor Who marathon). Here in Tinton Falls, we are expecting to lose power, for possibly a couple of days, so sometime during the next 12 hours, we will most likely be depending on our phones and our battery-powered radio for all of our news updates.
For the moment, I’ve found a steady stream of news on Twitter by following a number of news outlets and reporters including the following:
- @jerseyshorejen (a reporter who is updating via Twitter and her blog)
- @lisafleisher (a Wall Street Journal reporter who covered Governor Christie’s press conference this afternoon via Twitter)
- @WSJ (Wall Street Journal) and @njdotcom (NJ.com) for news updates
- Also follow the hashtag #irene
As for the radio, on the FM dial, listen to NJ 101.5, 94.3 The Point and 90.5 The Night at Brookdale Community College for local updates. Q104.3 is also updating both New York and New Jersey storm related news.
Meanwhile, online coverage has been fairly comprehensive although I’ve mostly been following weather.com, weatherbug.com, nj.com and app.com to find Monmouth and Ocean County updates.
Many friends and family have been posting their own personal updates and plans on Facebook to keep out-of-state friends and family up to speed.
Stay safe, and if you know anyone in a mandatory evacuation area who has not left, please urge them to move to a safe location before this evening.
A View From the Room 