As Many As 30 Cars Stranded, 6 Rescues Made As Storms Flood Roads In Toms River
TOMS RIVER, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- As many as 30 vehicles were stuck in the water in Toms River Thursday evening, as severe storms brought on major flooding.
Fire crews also rescued six people who could not get out of their cars.
As CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported, Toms River residents spent the night cleaning up the mess left behind by the storm Thursday afternoon.
Booming thunder and heavy rain mixed with hail and whipping winds, as captured on cellphone video around 4:45 p.m. People were caught off guard by the intense downpour.
"Just down, like buckets," one woman said. "It wasn't even, like, sideways, nothing -- a constant downpour like if you were being shot with a firehose or something like that."
"It wasn't even this bad for Sandy here," added Ronnie Golda.
Toms River police said 20 to 30 vehicles got stuck, and many required high water emergency vehicles to get the occupants out. Many were stranded on Route 37.
Most of the vehicles were under water high enough that they couldn't operate, but low enough that no one was in physical danger, police said.
Still, the fire department had to step in to rescue six people in vehicles, Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher told WCBS 880.
"We did have our fire department respond to six water rescue calls where cars were stuck in intersections, primarily with people in them, and they couldn't get out," Kelaher said. "Those people have been effectively rescued."
Golda helped push one man's vehicle out of the floodwaters.
"Evidently, he ran through the flood too fast and the engine got wet, because it was up around his door – it was a Volkswagen -- and I pushed him out from the middle all the way out until here," he said.
Golda and his fiancée, Kristine Werner, said the waters also swept through the office and their apartment at the Shore Motel, soaking their floors and walls.
"The water was about up to here on my back door," Werner said.
At one point, the water was so high, the couple couldn't even get into their apartment.
"Our laundry room was flooded; like we couldn't even go in our doors," Werner said. "I was going in and out of my window -- literally my window."
No injuries were reported in the storm.
A total of 3 to 4 inches of rain fell on Toms River and left the roads almost completely flooded Thursday afternoon, CBS2's Vanessa Murdock reported.