ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — The worst of Tropical Storm Elsa is behind us. The storm is continuing on its way north, but the Jersey Shore on Friday morning was still seeing some bands of strong rain moving through. And more rain is on the way.
Several tornado warnings woke people in New Jersey overnight. Strong wind gusts hit 79 mph in Sea Isle City and 71 mph in Beach Haven in Ocean County, bringing down several trees and power lines with them.
The wind was still whipping though Atlantic City on Friday morning. From the boardwalk, near the Steel Pier, enormous waves could be seen crashing across the shoreline, and ominous, dark clouds lingered overhead.
Hours of pouring rain overnight into the early morning hours led to some minor street flooding in Atlantic City. Along the boardwalk, the wind knocked down some chairs, signs and trash cans.
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Some people, like Marco, visiting from Rhode Island, took to the beach.
"We came out this morning to check out the riptides, to see how it is before we leave," Marco said, declining to give his full name.
He and his family were leaving AC early. Elsa was on a crash course with New England, so they wanted to make sure their house and other family members back home were OK.
There is an alert at the Shore for high risk of rip currents. It is dangerous to get the water, even for the most experienced swimmers, but that did not stop surfer Matt Rosenthal, who called the conditions a "blessing."
"That’s kind of the thing in Jersey. You gotta find the best spot. That’s a little bit part of the adventure, is finding where to get in," he said.
"I’m just checking out the organization, the lines, if it’s like lining up properly. Just assessing the situation."
And so, after Elsa made her mark and moved away, Rosenthal and others — with a game plan they believed solid — got their wet suits on, grabbed their boards, and rode the waves.
While Elsa battered the coast, another storm system hit the Pennsylvania suburbs. The storm came and went in less than a half-hour, but it certainly left its mark on towns like Wayne.
Just a couple houses up from the St. David's SEPTA Station, a big pine tree could be seen Friday morning snapped in half and lying across the roof of a house. The trunk about 18 inches thick spoke for itself to the force of the winds in the area in the last 12 hours.
Around town, there were a couple of smaller trees knocked over, and there was a lot of debris, leaves and smaller branches scattered through the streets and in yards.
Some people reported seeing small funnel clouds. The National Weather Service will be investigating to see if a tornado did indeed pass through.