NJ Governor Phil Murphy Provides Update On 'Very Dangerous' Rip Currents, Surf From Hurricane Erin

Forbes Breaking News

Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) provided an update on Hurricane Erin's impacts for the New Jersey coastline.

Transcript

00:01Gov, glad to have you here.

00:03Good to see you again.

00:04Good to be here.

00:05Look, as we described, today's event,

00:07we'll talk a lot about South Jersey.

00:09But before we start, I want to just throw one thing out here

00:11that's going to impact all of New Jersey

00:13and all of the East Coast.

00:15Gov, can you give us an update on the hurricane that's coming up

00:18and thoughts on how we're going to prepare for that?

00:21Yeah, again, it's an incredible honor to be here today

00:24with everybody, Christina, Robin,

00:26the whole South Jersey Chamber team,

00:28especially elected officials.

00:30My eyesight's not that good, but I see Majority Leader Lou Greenwald,

00:33a dear friend for a long time, Latham Tiver,

00:37a senator, great senator,

00:39and to all the other dignitaries.

00:41I just got off the phone, literally, Tom, with Ed Kazukowicz.

00:46If you don't know who Ed is,

00:48Ed is a lifeguard in Bayhead in Ocean County.

00:53Ed has been a lifeguard since 1961 when I was four.

00:57Ed is 82 years old, still active,

01:01and just was named by Guinness Book of World Records

01:03as the oldest active lifeguard in the world.

01:07How about that? In Jersey, baby.

01:09I also just walked out beyond the boardwalk

01:15and went down to look at the beach and the surf here.

01:18This is a really nasty storm, and the worry that I have is twofold.

01:25One is it's going to miss us, so there's almost no model right now

01:30that suggests we're going to get hit.

01:32That's good news.

01:33But when people hear that, they let their guard down.

01:36It's gray and a little misty today, but beginning at some point tomorrow,

01:41it's going to get nice, and it's going to be really nice through the weekend.

01:46And that's the other reason I'm concerned,

01:48that people will get uber-complacent when they hear the storm is missing us.

01:53And by the way, it's 82 degrees and sunny.

01:56Trust me, these are going to be record waves, record rip currents.

02:01We've already lost two people last week, precious souls, one in Seaside Heights, one in Belmar.

02:08I'm very worried about people going in the water.

02:11I'm happy that I just looked out here in Atlantic City as the red flag up.

02:15I'm not so happy that there are some knuckleheads out swimming and surfing.

02:20So I would just beg each of you to use your megaphones,

02:23whether it's your family, friends, neighbors, the organizations you're a part of.

02:27Enjoy the beach, enjoy the shore, the boardwalk.

02:30There's so much to do, but don't go in the water for the next few days.

02:34That would be my plea.

02:36And by the way, the big other concern is flooding, coastal flooding.

02:40And in particular, tomorrow, early evening, there's a confluence of very high waves,

02:46low double-digit feet, by the way, onshore, and high tide.

02:51And that's an area of particular concern we have as well. Sorry.

02:55So if I hear you, to summarize, come to the shore, don't go in the water, but spend money, right?

03:01Is that what we're doing?

03:02You bet.

03:03I mean, this is one of the biggest weeks of the summer.

03:05I just had a birthday on Saturday.

03:07We celebrated it right here in Atlantic City.

03:09So, yeah.

03:11Shamelessly fishing for applause.

03:16But absolutely right, Tom.

03:21Enjoy the shore.

03:22There's so much to do, but don't get sucked into the water.

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