Ocean City Crews Reinforce Beaches, Residents Urged To Be Ready

OCEAN CITY, N.J. (CBS) --  Ocean City Public Works crews were already moving along the beach early this morning, reinforcing the shore, as they have for days now.

"We've been pushing some sand in front of dune openings. Ocean City is fortunate in that two Army Corps. engineer beach replenishment projects just finished up this year, so the beaches are fairly healthy, as well as the dunes," Doug Bergen, Ocean City's public information officer, told Eyewitness News.

Meantime on the boardwalk, residents took one last stroll and one last look.

The surf is relatively calm for now.

But just blocks away, businesses are taking no chances.

Crews piled up the sandbags, hoping to keep floodwaters at bay.

The forecast calls for moderate to major tidal flooding through three high tide cycles.

Officials want residents to prepare if they haven't already.

"We encourage residents to move their cars from lower to higher ground, or take them off the island," Bergen said.

Tides are expected to be between 7-8 feet with wind guts up to 60 miles per hour.