South Jersey Shoregoers Hope To Salvage Weekend
KYW Newsradio Team Coverage --
Shoregoers were squeezing in a little beach time today before the full effects of Hurricane Earl hit the South Jersey coast.
KYW's Mike DeNardo reports from Sea Isle City that Susan Romano of Gibbstown, NJ was celebrating her birthday with a walk on the cloudy, windy beach -- enjoying the relative calm before the storm:
"It doesn't look too bad. It's a little rough, a little breezy. But not... so far it doesn't feel like a hurricane. But they're saying it's going to get worse. So we're trying to get off before it does."
And when it does, the locals here know to look for gale-force winds, high waves, heavy rains, street flooding, and possibly some beach erosion.
But nearly everyone here for the Labor Day weekend says they'll ride out this day because the forecast for the rest of the weekend looks pretty good.
KYW's Hadas Kuznits reports from Atlantic City that Hurricane Earl already seemed to be kicking the waves up on the beach.
(Surfer:) "It's perfect surfing weather. The waves aren't too high but they're pretty nice."
But surfers aren't being allowed in the water.
(Surfer:) "The lifeguards said that it's too dangerous to go out there. If somebody were to drown they wouldn't be able to save them because they wouldn't be able to get their boats out there. So they're just not letting anybody out there."
Some folks are worried about Earl.
(Woman:) "Because it gets flooded really quick down my area. And well, if you get flooded, you're stuck."
Others believe this hurricane will just blow on by.
(Man:) "Come on down to the shore, plenty of room, and everybody can have some fun."
(Woman:) "I'm not gonna hide out. I'm going to enjoy it while I can, and when I can't I'll go in my room and put on movies. But I hope Earl doesn't hit us too hard."
Complete Coverage of Hurricane Earl
Interactive: All About Hurricanes
Stay tuned to KYW Newsradio 1060 for updates on Earl and for AccuWeather forecasts eight times every hour, 24 hours a day.
