Hurricane Irene Carves Path of Destruction through Jersey Shore

Hurricane Irene has moved past the Jersey Shore, leaving a trail of destruction and causing major flooding in some oceanfront communities. 

Damaging winds and heavy rains associated with the storm eventually led to thousands of customers being left without electricity in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Wind and rain could continue throughout the day until about 5 p.m., forecasters said. 

Jersey Central Power & Light spokesman Ron Morano said that as of Sunday morning,  more than 110,000 customers were without power in central Jersey – that includes Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, Mercer and Burlington counties – and that number is expected to rise with the next report at 11 a.m.

As of 7:30 a.m., JCP&L's online power outage map indicated that Monmouth had nearly 77,000 utility customers without power. More than 40,000 JCP&L homes in Ocean County were dark. At least 12,000 Atlantic City Electric customers in Ocean were without power.

As bands of Hurricane Irene moved through the area overnight, some pockets of thunderstorms were believed to be powerful enough to create tornados.

A Tornado Watch and later several localized Tornado Warnings were enacted Saturday night and expired at 5 a.m. Sunday after authorities confirmed a tornado in the coastal community of Lewes, DE. The twister apparently tore through a neighborhood and is being blamed for the total destruction of at least one home.

Area residents are blaming a tornado for the e, though officials have yet to confirm that possibility.

Residents can expect continued damaging winds and heavy rains today. Though the storm has weakened, a Hurricane Warning issued by the National Weather Service indicates that the storm is still packing 80 mile per hour winds.

In total, 6 to 10 inches of rain have fallen on the area.

Flood watches are still in effect as the combination of a heavy storm surge, rainfall totals and a new moon high tide is expected to choke area waterways.