- 5 months ago
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) and other state officials held a press briefing about the potential impact of Hurricane Erin on New Jersey as it moves north in the Atlantic.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming together on short notice in a different venue.
00:12Our normal venue up in this part of the state is under construction.
00:17With me, you'll hear from each of them in a few moments, the superintendent of the state police,
00:20Colonel Pat Callahan, explicitly here for, among other reasons, the Office of Emergency Management
00:26reports up to Pat, as you all know. To my left, another important leader, the commissioner
00:31of the Department of Environmental Protection, Sean LaTourette. We have Dan Kelly from our
00:36emergency services and recovery team who's been running it since Superstorm Sandy, I might add.
00:42Tim Hillman, chief of staff, among others, are with us. This is an unusual reason to gather
00:50as it relates to weather. You may look outside and see it's mid-70s, sunny. Tomorrow will be a little
00:59choppier in terms of weather, some rain expected. Thursday morning may be a little of that. And then
01:05beginning, if you believe the forecast, midday, Thursday through midday, at least midday, Sunday,
01:11will be some of the nicest weather we've had all summer, particularly Friday and Saturday.
01:16That's one data point that I'm sure folks are scratching their head about. The second one is
01:25that Hurricane Aaron, as fierce as it is, based, I think, gentlemen, on all the modeling any of us
01:31have seen, National Weather Service, our own modeling, is going to miss us by a substantial amount,
01:38somewhere in the many hundreds of miles offshore. It could veer a little bit one way or the other.
01:43Sean should probably address that. But there's no modeling right now that we're seeing that is
01:48going to result in that storm hitting New Jersey. So just stop there for a second. Weather's
01:55not so bad. In fact, it's going to get really nice, and the storm's going to miss us.
02:00We are worried, therefore, in a big way about human nature and complacency.
02:07We've already had a very tough riptide summer, particularly over the past several weeks. Hard
02:14to tell, as we were just discussing, if that's any relationship with this storm. Probably not,
02:19I would guess. But we lost a precious soul in Seaside Heights. We lost a young girl in Belmar.
02:26And we've had stories all summer long of dangerous rip currents and rip tides. That will intensify
02:33to a very high level. In fact, it's intensifying as we speak. And secondly, wave heights, including
02:41onshore – never mind the 40-foot waves that will be several hundred miles out in the ocean.
02:46You've already got heightened levels on our beaches. I was in Long Branch yesterday, and
02:51you can see the ocean is quite angry. And those wave heights are now sort of in the five, six,
02:59seven-foot range. That will get into double-digit, low double-digit feet on, I think, Thursday,
03:07Sean, into Friday. And so let's stop right there. This is no time to be complacent. I would just
03:16say to you, flat out, don't go in the water. I don't want to be the Amityville mayor in
03:21Jaws. But the fact of the matter is, I think, going in the ocean for the next number of days
03:27is something you've got to avoid. A whole – not a whole bunch, but at least some Jersey Shore
03:33towns have already made that decision at their own beaches. Sean and we have made that decision for
03:40Island Beach State Park, which is the one shore beach that we control. There's no – nobody's
03:45allowed to go in the water. And that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the beach. You can't enjoy the shore.
03:53You can be on the beach sunbathing, playing ball. We'll look the other way if you want to have a beer.
04:01Walk the boardwalks. Go to the restaurants. Have a great amusement park. Remember, this storm is going to
04:08miss us. So this is not – it's – other than tomorrow and maybe a little bit of Thursday, there's no rain involved.
04:13But we are hyper, hyper concerned, first and foremost, about complacency, particularly when the weather
04:20is really good Thursday afternoon through Sunday, in terms of people sort of thinking about going in
04:28the water, because these rip currents are brutal. If you're caught in one – again, I'd love Sean to
04:34add to this and Pat – the advice is to swim parallel to shore. First of all, stay calm. They always say stay
04:41calm. Like when you get a – when a bear shows up on your back porch, stay calm. Easier said than done.
04:47But in this case, try to stay calm and swim parallel to shore until the current sort of subsides and then
04:54come in on a perpendicular to the shore. But please don't even go on the water. So that's our first
05:02huge concern right now. We'll keep you posted on ready.nj.gov.
05:06Gov, at Gov Murphy on X is another source, any of our statewide resources. The second concern
05:15is the potential for coastal flooding. And the word that we're using and that we use is moderate.
05:23Moderate does not mean a little. This means a potential for significant coastal flooding.
05:30There's a moment, I think it's Thursday night, guys, where the high tide will coincide with the high
05:35waves and the intensity of the impact of this storm. That's a particular period of concern Thursday
05:43night into Friday. Sean will remind us that this also means potential flooding for the tidal rivers
05:49inland. But I think most of the focus or concern right now is on coastal flooding. So those are the
05:58double-headed reasons why we wanted to speak with you this morning. Again, ready.nj.gov, number one.
06:06Number two, just don't go in the water. We're about to get on a call with all the shore mayors
06:13and county executives, the three of us and Dan and Tim and others right after this. We're going to make the
06:18same point. I don't think it'll come to it. But if it helps, you know, we have the ability, we believe,
06:27to declare a state of emergency and have that blanket access to water up and down the entire
06:33Jersey Shore. I think we're seeing a lot of really responsible mayors take steps already.
06:39You've already seen some of that. Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside Heights, to pick three that have taken
06:46steps. But folks, please, please, please take this seriously. Particularly push back on complacency,
06:55on the human nature of, gosh, it's beautiful outside. Let's get, let's sneak a quick dip in the
07:00water. This is not the week to do that. And if things change, particularly if they change for the
07:06better, we'll be the first folks to raise our hand and say, you know what, this was not as bad as we
07:11thought. And you should feel good. All the shore towns are really good. And I know Island Beach
07:16is really good with the flags and the red, the yellow, the green. You got a lot of red flags up
07:22this week. Again, that doesn't mean you can't have fun on the shore. This is one of the biggest weeks of
07:28the summer. But we cannot lose any more precious souls. And obviously, we need to anticipate
07:34what could be meaningful flooding on the back end of this. Deep thanks for coming out. I'm going to
07:40ask Pat, Colonel Pat Callahan to say a few words. And Commissioner Sean LaTourette,
07:45and the three of us with the help from Dan and Tim and others will answer any questions you have.
07:50Colonel, come on down. Thanks, Governor. And I'll just echo some of the Governor's remarks with regards to
07:55complacency. I know when people hear that it's not going to make landfall, that there's a sigh of relief.
08:01But although this will be mainly a marine event with small craft advisories with, you know,
08:08certainly high risk for rip currents and certainly those swells, but that complacency is sometimes
08:15a deadly attitude to have. And I know especially those with surfboards are chomping at the bit to
08:22get down there. And it is not the time to do that. As excited as they may be about hearing about
08:28those swells, it is dangerous and it is deadly. Right now, if you've seen, it's about 750 miles
08:35southeast of Cape Hatteras down off of North Carolina. And it will come up and make that,
08:40hopefully, that right turn that we're all expecting in those models. But that high surf,
08:46dangerous, dangerous surf conditions. And we just ask that you be mindful of those red flags and listen
08:53to those lifeguards. My family and four grandchildren were at Point Pleasant two weeks ago and it was a
08:58day like today. And we couldn't understand why they wouldn't let us in the water for three days straight.
09:03And if you've rented a house down the shore, there's still a lot of entertainment to be had
09:08without going in that water. And the reason we couldn't go in the water is because, just like the
09:13Governor mentioned, the two souls that we've lost this past week because it is dangerous and it is hard to
09:18remain calm when you're in that situation. From a State Emergency Operations Center perspective,
09:24I've already been on the phone with FEMA Region 2 this morning. Our State Emergency Operations Center
09:30will be monitoring this along with the National Weather Service, who's been on this for several
09:34days. And again, to the Governor's point with regard to that word moderate does not mean it's a
09:41slight storm. I think the combination of that high tide Thursday night with those gale force winds,
09:46they have not issued a gale advisory yet. But having watched storms for the last decade or so,
09:52I trust that that gale advisory is coming. That too will impact the coastal flooding area. So we will
10:00be monitoring it. We have constant contact with our county OEM coordinators and local municipal OEM
10:08coordinators. And to the Governor's point, we'll be on shortly with the mayors that we anticipate having
10:14the greatest impact. So, you know, always standing ready, certainly at the emergency
10:20management level. Thanks, Governor. Thanks, Pat. I appreciate that. Pat mentioned the Outer Banks
10:25in North Carolina. There's some evacuations that are occurring there. You may ask, do we anticipate
10:30any here? I'm knocking on wood at the moment. We don't. But everybody's got to be smart. That would be more
10:35for flooding than it would be for don't go in the water reasons. So, Pat, thank you for your leadership as
10:41always. Again, please help me welcome another outstanding leader commissioner of the Department
10:45of Environmental Protection, Sean LaTourette.
10:49Well, thank you, everyone, for joining us. As the Governor and the Colonel mentioned, the conditions
10:56along the shore are serious. Not only do we have ARIN approaching, but we've been dealing with more
11:02localized wind conditions as well in the recent weeks and certainly in the last two days that have
11:09created or lent to an increase in that riptide occurrence. So as of this morning, we have closed
11:17Island Beach State Park. As the Governor mentioned, that's the one state park that we have on the shore
11:23that folks can swim at. We've closed that to swimming. But as the Governor mentioned, there is many, many
11:29great activities that you can enjoy while avoiding the swimming. And so Island Beach will be open for that.
11:37One of the things to be really mindful of here is as we expect the storm to move north and then begin
11:44moving more eastward over the next several days, the cone of influence for that storm, the way that its winds
11:53affect the tides, will extend west toward us by several miles. And so that is going to increase
12:02wave heights, right, up to – some estimates put it around 13 feet above normal. And if you'd like to see
12:11what normal is and what actual recorded wave heights are, you can download the My Coast app, which is
12:18something the state offers for all of our residents, and you can see the activity at your nearest tide station.
12:25So I'd encourage everyone to do that or go to My Coast NJ, where you can also see that same information online.
12:33The Governor made an important point about tidal influence in our riverine communities, right?
12:40The Delaware River is tidal up to Trenton, and the effect of the tides on our river systems can
12:48increase flooding conditions in particularly urban communities that are far from the Jersey Shore.
12:56And that's something to be really mindful of. As we see 12 or more feet height in waves, we can see
13:02the coastal flooding conditions that we typically experience be exacerbated along the Atlantic Coast,
13:10and particularly along the Delaware Bay Shore. But as we have tidal influence in the Newark Bay,
13:18up the Passaic River, and in the Hudson, we want to be mindful of those flooding conditions there as well.
13:24Between last Tuesday and yesterday, the DEP's Office of Coastal Engineering has conducted a
13:31pre-storm coastal erosion survey along all 210 miles of our coastal beaches from the Raritan Bay
13:39beaches down the Atlantic coast and into the Delaware Bay, so that we can benchmark the conditions
13:46and the effect of this storm, so that if there is severe coastal erosion, we work with the Governor
13:53and his team, including the Chief of Staff Hillman and Dan Kelly from the Governor's Office of Disaster
13:58Recovery to work on potential funding, if that's necessary. We hope it's not.
14:04But do please stay out of the water, if at all you can. I understand how enticing it is. We work so
14:11hard to keep it clean and wonderful for you. But staying out of the water is your best bet for the
14:16next several days. It will peak on Thursday, but – or is expected to. But even as the storm moves
14:21further north and then east, we'll – we could still see the impacts of those – of that wave increase
14:28and that wave action increase through the beginning of the weekend. So vigilance is key,
14:35and be going to ready.nj.gov as often as you can. Thank you.
14:40Thank you, Sean. I just want to underscore something that – Sean, thank you for that
14:47mentioned sort of places you wouldn't associate with the Jersey Shore. The three of us know all
14:51too well – our colleagues know all too well – some of the worst flooding and unfortunate tragic
14:56fatalities have taken place in our eight years together – different types of storms, admittedly,
15:02but in places like Elizabeth or Irvington or Hillsborough, none of which you'd associate with
15:08the Jersey Shore. Again, different characteristics on those storms. But don't underestimate Sean's
15:15point about some of this coming inland. And secondly, I hope I'm wrong, Dan, but I'll be shocked if we
15:21don't have some beach erosion here. And they're the usual suspects, and there are certain parts of the
15:27shore that we've been chasing our tail on for decades – not too far from Island Beach north,
15:35just north of that, Ortley Beach, Bayhead, down south in the Wildwoods would be two areas that are
15:42perennially challenges that we try to work with the feds and the local communities to do our best
15:48to push back on that. I hope I'm wrong about that, but with the nature that we're expecting,
15:53my guess is we'll probably see some of that. Pat and Sean, thank you. With that,
15:57we'll take any questions you've got.
15:59Governor, I think you speak to the challenges for first responders. I mean,
16:03we would have to go out assuming somebody were to wade into the ocean. What is the protocol there?
16:07Are first responders going out to rescue them? Is it all on the swimmer? They're on their own
16:12because you warned them not to go in? How does this work?
16:14Yeah, I mean, you saw this, and I don't want to get into the specifics because there's loss of life, but
16:19one message ought to be screaming here. If there's a red flag, don't go in the water. And don't even
16:26think about going near the water if there's no lifeguard on duty. And we should have said that,
16:31so I'm glad you asked that. But their responsibility is to save lives. Absolutely. And at least one of
16:38these incidents that took place last week, gentlemen, if I'm not mistaken, there were a number of lives
16:42that were at risk, many of whom were saved. Sadly and tragically, one was not. That reminds me to make a
16:49point Tim Hillman wanted me to make. We've gotten a very fair amount of input on bilingual
16:56communication, particularly in Spanish, on some of these warnings, which we are aggressively,
17:01Tyler and her team are aggressively pursuing. Anything else you want to say about first responders?
17:06We're not. They're going to hit it. I mean, it's the lifeguards are the primary first line of defense,
17:11but our Marine Services Bureau are out there patrolling the entire coast. Our partnership with the
17:16Coast Guard has never been better. But that rapid response, it doesn't take all too long to lose
17:23life out there. And so, you know, we'll be out there. I know that. But it's difficult to save lives
17:28once they've been pulled away in it. You know, Sean mentioned that Island Beach State Park is open for
17:34business, but swimming there is not. And presumably you've got a whole army of people there, lifeguards and
17:39others to enforce that. There's their own police force. They work closely with the state police,
17:46lifeguards, etc. Please. Good morning.
17:58I think we should probably hold off on that. If you read the press, the overwhelming speculation is a rip
18:03current. But I don't probably probably shouldn't get into any of the specifics on that, if it's okay.
18:09Okay, sure. And then I just wanted to get more specifics in terms of caring. I know
18:14it's not expected to get landfall, but you mentioned, sir, that we've kind of
18:18making calls to local mayors. Do we know what that call is going to be about over today?
18:24Yep. Yeah, so we've already – it's not like we're waiting for this. This is a group call,
18:30but we've been on. I've been back and forth with mayors, myself, our team, Tim and Rob Field,
18:34who's known to everybody, I think, in the state. I think there's no one in the state that doesn't
18:38have Rob's cell phone number, including one mayor that was mad at him, actually put it up on a
18:42billboard a few years ago. But we're in touch with these folks constantly. This is a group call
18:49that will take place literally right after our gathering. Pat and Sean will be on with me, Dan
18:54and Tim and Rob, and we'll go through a lot of what we've just said. We'll probably raise as a – more
19:02as an offer of help than big footing whether or not it would help local communities' message against
19:11complacency if we were to come in and say there's no swimming on the Jersey Shore through X day.
19:17That's something we'll probably test with these mayors if they want that. We would still reserve the
19:22right if we think even if they didn't want it that we would need to do it. As Dan reminded me,
19:25we closed beaches during COVID, so we have the authority to do it. But that's something we want
19:31to talk to them about. I think we're going to plead with them to put the red flags up until further
19:36notice. Is that fair to say, guys? And to make sure their messaging is amplified by us and that
19:46they can amplify our messaging as well, including you could still have a great time on the shore this week.
19:53Lots of pools. Again, it's a weird dynamic, admittedly. You're not going to have thunder,
19:59lightning. Might have a little rain tomorrow, a little bit into Thursday morning, but this is
20:04largely a good weather week. So there's really no restriction other than swimming in the ocean
20:09in terms of what you can do, and that's a message we want to make sure people get out. This is one of
20:14the biggest weeks of the summer. Thank you. I think most of this, you should expect, I think most of
20:30this will be done at the community level. You're starting to see the dominoes fall. We've got to
20:35up and down the shore, whether it's county executives or shore mayors, an incredibly responsible
20:42group of leaders who we've worked with now for eight years through thick and thin, including bad
20:47storms and COVID, to pick two examples. So I personally am optimistic that the right decisions will get
20:54made locally, and you're starting to see that as we speak. You saw Tony Voss in Seaside Heights, for
21:00instance, very aggressively responding to the tragedy there. You've seen Wildwood, Atlantic City,
21:07I think now Asbury Park, Island Beach State Park. I hope that folks would look to us in terms of
21:16at least to some extent a role model on decisions on this. Sean, with our support, has made the decision
21:22to ban swimming at Island Beach State Park, which is our big exposure on the shore. That's a 10-mile stretch
21:28of beach. Gorgeous, by the way. Voted a few years ago number one state park in America. I had to get
21:34that in. So I would hope that – but if we think that, in particular, the shore mayors and county
21:42executives need help in amplifying and sort of strengthening the message that they're trying to
21:50deliver locally, we're open to helping them in any way we can, including a blanket step. Right now,
21:56I'm – my gut tells me we won't need to do that, but that's something that we at least have on the
22:03table as an option. And Governor, just to be clear, the timeline that's most concerning is Thursday
22:09night into Friday – You guys should come in on this. Although it's right now in terms of rip current.
22:15Okay. So – Yeah. So the rip currents have been increasing in recent days, and we've had an experience
22:21growing over the last several weeks with rip currents in New Jersey or off our coast. The – as the storm
22:28makes its way, it's closest to our – or closest to us on that Thursday. So the effects are expected to
22:37be, you know, the precipice at that point. Right? But even as it moves further away from us – right?
22:43Because it's going like this. Right? It's making a bend. Even as it moves further away from us, the winds
22:49will still affect us. And so you can expect these conditions likely into at least the early part of
22:56the weekend. The other thing that I think is worth repeating is what Pat mentioned. I think we all
23:02mentioned there's a particular moment that we're expecting Thursday evening with the combination of
23:09high tide, highest level of swells in terms of the flooding risk. So put aside the personal safety
23:15risk, which is acute. That's when we are most concerned about the potential for flooding.
23:25Again, ready.nj.gov. Please, folks, I'm begging you, take this seriously. Enjoy the shore. Enjoy this
23:31beautiful weather, but stay out of the water. Thank you all. Thanks, guys.
23:36Appreciate it.
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