New Jersey assesses Irene's damage and tries to recover

Rachel Duclos fought back tears Monday as she stood in front of her house on Monroe Street in Mount Holly.

The building had six feet of water in the basement, thanks to floods from Hurricane Irene, and had been deemed uninhabitable by township inspectors.

"This was supposed to be my future. Now we won't have anything," Duclos said of the investment rental property.

Irene will not soon be forgotten by thousands of New Jersey residents displaced and discomforted by Irene. On Tuesday, many remained without power and had to improvise a route to work because of washed-out roads, discontinued rail service, and reduced bus schedules.

Communities from Vineland and Millville on the Maurice River in South Jersey, to Hoboken, across the Hudson River from New York City, were evacuated Monday as streams and rivers rose.

About 110 people near Willow Grove Lake in Vineland were taken to a local shelter after area roads flooded, state police said. In Mount Holly, where the municipal building remained inundated, police had to relocate their operations.

New Jersey is "not out of the woods yet," Gov. Christie warned at a news conference Monday. Water levels had matched or set records at nine river locations, he said.

At least six deaths in New Jersey had been blamed on Irene, and about half a million customers remained without electricity late Monday afternoon, as an army of utility repair crews worked to restore power.

The hurricane also has affected farmers. About 30 percent to 40 percent of the late peach crop was lost, said Jerry Frecon, a Gloucester County agricultural agent, adding that ground crops such as squash and pumpkins will have to be monitored for rot.

But signs of better times had begun to show up. Jersey Shore resort communities - which were not hit as hard as officials had expected - were slowly coming back after the weekend's mandatory evacuation. All 11 of Atlantic City's casinos resumed operation, and the beaches reopened.

Christie, who warned tourists Friday to "get the hell off the beach," invited them back Monday. He visited Atlantic City and Lake Como in Monmouth County to promote the Shore during the tourism industry's all-important pre-Labor Day week.

There could be vacancies, so "you'll probably get a good price," he quipped.

Some erosion was reported along the 127-mile coastline, particularly on portions of Long Beach Island. But Christie and Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert Martin, who flew up and down the coast Sunday to look for damage, were encouraged. Christie said a recent beach-replenishment project had helped save lives and homes.

"This doesn't happen by accident," he said. "Part of it's good fortune from the way the storm weakened a little bit before it came on shore, but part of it is because these guys have made investments. . . . The dunes did their jobs. They protected the beach."

Across the state, though, normal will take a while.

More than 300 highway locations were covered with floodwaters or obstructed by debris, the New Jersey Department of Transportation reported Monday.

Southbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway south of Exit 98 at Interstate 195 reopened, though detours remained between Exits 98 and 91. Eastbound lanes of the Atlantic City Expressway at Pleasantville were to reopen Monday afternoon.

The Route 322 bridge over Mullica Pond in Mullica Hill remained impassable as it awaited a state inspection.

Traffic backed up in Mount Holly because of closures affecting Rancocas Road from the Mount Holly Bypass. The Burlington County Courthouse will remain closed Tuesday because of flooding. The Burlington County government building stayed open, though the parking lots across the street were a lake.

Public transportation across the state was heavily affected.

Assunpink Creek, at a record level, submerged train tracks at the Trenton train station that are used by Amtrak and commuter trains. The situation forced suspension of much of the Northeast Corridor's rail service north of Philadelphia, as Amtrak, NJ Transit and SEPTA trains were unable to operate.

Amtrak service between Philadelphia and Boston was halted, and NJ Transit trains operated only on the Atlantic City Line. Seventeen SEPTA railcars were stranded at the Trenton station, where waters from the overflowing Assunpink lapped over the tracks.

Amtrak's Acela service from Boston to New York will resume Tuesday, the railroad said Monday afternoon. But it was unclear when service could be restored between Philadelphia and New York. Maintenance crews first must inspect the tracks, rail bed, and power lines.

The River Line light-rail service was operating between Trenton and Camden, but buses replaced trains between Camden's Walter Rand Transportation Center and the waterfront Susquehanna Bank entertainment center because of flooding.

"Our goal is to resume service as quickly and safely as possible," said James Weinstein, New Jersey Transit's executive director. "However, customers should not expect a normal weekday [Monday] for transit services as crews continue to assess damage around the state, particularly on the railroad."

New Jersey highways also were inundated with post-hurricane flooding. The water and debris slowed efforts Monday by utility crews to restore power to New Jersey customers.

In Mount Holly, Cory Taylor was looking for a way to charge his phone Monday so that he could make arrangements to drop his 6-year-old son off in Willingboro, which incurred less damage.

Like many residents in Mount Holly, Taylor had lost his electricity and was told it might not come back on until the weekend.

"I can't even shave or anything now because I can't even see," Taylor said. "I'm looking a little scruffy."

What's more, he said his basement flooded Sunday night, ruining his son's new school supplies.

Public Service Electric & Gas had about 147,000 customers without service as of 9 p.m. Monday. Atlantic City Electric was reporting 37,000 without service. Jersey Central Power & Light reported about 300,000 homes and businesses without service. Most should have power restored by Wednesday, the companies said.

As of Monday, Irene was known to have claimed six lives in the state.

Michael Kenwood, 39, an emergency-medical technician, died of injuries he suffered in Princeton on Sunday during a hurricane-related rescue operation, police said.

In Salem County, Celena Sylvestri, 20, of Quinton, drowned Sunday when she drove onto a flooded stretch of Route 40 in Pilesgrove Township.

In Wanaque, Passaic County, Scott Palecek, 39, was walking Sunday when a pipe broke loose and swept him away. He was found 100 feet away, drowned.

In Kearny, Hudson County, Ronald Dawkins, 47, a postal worker from Orange, abandoned his vehicle Sunday when it became partly submerged and was wading through rising water when he disappeared into a hidden drainage creek.

And at the Jersey Shore, the bodies of two men were recovered Monday. Jorge Hernandez, 25, of Point Pleasant Beach, was found about 10:40 a.m. in a jetty of the Manasquan River inlet, and a second man, whose identity had not been determined, was found near the inlet in Point Pleasant Beach about 1:15 p.m.

Hernandez and another man had planned to go to the inlet early Sunday, possibly to watch the storm's approach, Ocean County authorities said.