The year before Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene ravaged New Jersey with deadly force and record flooding in August 2011. Watch video
Before there was Sandy, there was Irene.
Five years ago this weekend, a powerful hurricane churned its way up the Atlantic Ocean and slammed into New Jersey, killing several people, pushing rivers over their flood-stage levels and causing billions of dollars in property damage statewide.
Irene was a monster storm, which was overshadowed by an even bigger monster just 14 months later: Superstorm Sandy.
Sandy's immense size, its rare formation -- a late-season coastal hurricane that gained energy from an upper-level trough of low pressure -- and its devastating winds, made it one of the worst Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded.
Irene, however, also remains one of the most devastating storms in New Jersey history.
Here are several factors that made Irene, which struck the state on Aug. 28, 2011, such a eventful storm. And some aspects of the storm that may have been forgotten after five years.
WAS IT A HURRICANE?
This is what Hurricane Irene looked like from space as the storm was barreling up the East Coast and getting ready to slam into New Jersey on Aug. 28, 2011. (NASA/NOAA) Several days before hitting New Jersey, Irene was a very powerful category 3 hurricane, packing sustained winds of 115 mph and clobbering the Bahamas.
The storm was originally classified as a low-level category 1 hurricane when it approached New Jersey and slammed into Little Egg Inlet, just north of Atlantic City. A few months later, after storm data was reviewed by the National Hurricane Center, it was determined Irene had actually been a tropical storm when it hit the Garden State. Regardless of its technical status, it turned out to be a devastating storm.
LIVES LOST
Irene was responsible for nine deaths in New Jersey, most from drowning in the raging flood waters, some people trapped inside their cars. But one victim fell off a roof while clearing debris from his gutters, and one man suffered a fatal heart attack while bailing water out of his flooded basement. (Sandy was blamed for at least 34 deaths in New Jersey.)
RECORD RIVER FLOODING
Irene's storm surge of 3 to 5 feet along the Jersey Shore was not as severe as the record-level storm surge generated by Sandy's massive winds. The most devastating aspect of Irene was its torrential rain, which impacted New Jersey so badly because in the weeks prior to the storm, the ground was saturated by a series of heavy rain storms.
All the extra rain dumped by Irene caused serious flash-flooding and overwhelmed several rivers in northern and central counties, leading to record-breaking crests along the Millstone River in Somerset County, the Passaic, Pompton and Rockaway rivers in Morris County, and the Ramapo River in Bergen and Passaic counties. Also hitting record levels were the Assunpink Creek in Mercer County and the North Branch Rancocas Creek in Burlington County.
The Passaic River in Little Falls in Passaic County crested at 14.2 feet, which was the second highest level on record, and the Raritan River in Bound Brook in Somerset County crested at 41.9 feet, just short of the record 42.1 feet reached after Tropical Storm Floyd in September 1999, according to New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson at Rutgers University.
To make matters worse, more rain storms hit New Jersey in the days after Irene. August 2011 turned out to be the state's wettest month ever recorded, with records dating back to 1895.
COASTAL EVACUATIONS
Aside from its devastating river flooding, Irene will be long remembered for its massive evacuation -- the scope of which was unprecedented at that time -- with more than 1 million residents and vacationers ordered to leave coastal towns from Cape May to Monmouth counties. (Few New Jerseyans will forget Gov. Chris Christie's famous directive prior to the storm: "Get the hell off the beach!") All of the Garden State Parkway's southbound lanes, south of Exit 98, were shut down to stop drivers from heading into the storm's main target zone, and Atlantic City casinos were shuttered.
PRICE TAG ON DAMAGE
Irene caused between $4 billion and $6 billion worth of damage in New Jersey, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "The range of uncertainty surrounding the damages reflect the considerable flood losses, for which many damaged or destroyed properties did not have flood insurance," a NOAA representative said. "This cost assessment also does not include the additional costs to mitigate (strengthen) infrastructure to minimize future losses."
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Among the notable areas of destruction were in Morris County, where a section of Route 287 over the Rockaway River in Boonton collapsed as raging flood waters ripped apart the shoulder, embankment and part of the interstate highway. On Route 23 in Morris and Passaic counties, huge chunks of concrete and asphalt were washed away, forcing a 10-mile stretch of the highway to be closed.
In Warren County, flash floods during a rain storm that hit about a week after Irene caused a big mudslide in Liberty Township in which two houses collapsed and three other homes were badly damaged. In some towns along the Raritan River in Somerset County and the Passaic River in Passaic County, hundreds of houses were partially under water after Irene struck and heavy rain storms followed.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.