By Salem Chicago News Staff
NEW JERSEY — A powerful Nor’easter with near-hurricane-force winds moved up the East Coast, and Fox News anchor Carmen Roberts said forecasters were warning of the worst coastal flooding since Superstorm Sandy. The storm, tracking toward a projected landfall on the New Jersey coast, had already cut power to more than 75,000 customers and disrupted more than 1,000 flights nationwide. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., whose 2nd Congressional District covers New Jersey’s Atlantic and Delaware Bay shoreline, said federal, state and local emergency agencies were coordinating ahead of the storm.
Van Drew has represented the district since 2019 and sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which oversees federal disaster response agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He spent years in local government along the Jersey Shore before his election to Congress, serving as a Dennis Township fire commissioner, a Cape May County freeholder and, twice, as mayor of Dennis Township.
Van Drew says his office moved quickly once the storm’s track toward New Jersey became clear. “I have contacted Emergency Management, we’ve contacted the mayors of all our communities. We’ve contacted the Army Corps, the White House and FEMA. So we’re ready. We’re prepared,” he says.
The storm was projected to reach the New Jersey coastline after producing flooding from New Jersey to North Carolina. Fox Weather correspondent Brandy Campbell, reporting from Hull, Massachusetts, said the impacts were impressive given the storm’s center remained nearly 300 miles offshore at the time of her report. Fox News correspondent CB Cotton reported more than 1,000 flight delays and 400 cancellations nationwide, with wind gusts up to 60 mph expected in Boston and coastal Massachusetts and Boston Logan International Airport hit hardest by cancellations. Roberts said forecasters expected the storm to exit the region by Tuesday morning.
Van Drew’s coastal district has separately received federal storm-protection funding tied to his committee work. His office announced in April 2026 that the Army Corps of Engineers had allocated $99 million for beach replenishment in Ocean City, Strathmere, Sea Isle City, Avalon and Stone Harbor, shore towns within his district. The funding, an announced allocation rather than completed construction, is intended for pumping sand back onto beaches after storm erosion.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned that conditions in the region would worsen before the storm moved out. Van Drew’s comments came as New Jersey shore communities prepared for the storm’s approach, with local officials and federal agencies already in contact over the response.
“I have contacted Emergency Management, we’ve contacted the mayors of all our communities. We’ve contacted the Army Corps, the White House and FEMA. So we’re ready. We’re prepared.” — Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.)
