Officials from Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties all said they would monitor high tides Sunday night and Monday
CAPE MAY -- As the sun set on Sunday, officials from the state's four shore counties said the main effect of Tropical Storm Hermine was that some visitors were staying away from the beach.
Officials did report beach erosion in some shore locations as a result of the unusually rough surf, which closed some beaches for swimming, though others remained open.
"It's been good," Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy, who doubles as the county emergency management coordinator.
Ed Conover, Atlantic County's deputy director of emergency management, said Sunday evening, "Up to this point, we haven't had any flooding at all."
Officials also said they would continue to monitor high tides Sunday evening at about 11 p.m., and again on Monday morning about 12 hours later, when there was still some concern about flooding due to a combined surge and high tide.
The main damage from the storm may have been economic. Beaches and especially boardwalks were far from deserted Sunday, when the sun was out all day, but shore officials reported thinner crowds than usual for a Labor Day weekend.
"They were saying Cape May probably lost a third of its normal crowds," said Diane Wieland, a Cape May County spokeswoman, summing up the assessment of county officials on Sunday.
Monmouth County Freeholder Serina DiMaso, the freeholder board's public safety liaison, said Monmouth had staffed its emergency management center in Freehold on Sunday, concerned that a storm surge compounded by the mid-day high tide might lead to flooding. She said officials breathed a sigh of relief, however, when the tide came in with a surge, and no flooding resulted.
"It's excellent news, we were very lucky here in Monmouth," DiMasi said.
But DiMaso is also the freeholder in charge of tourism, and in that sense the weekend's news was not all good. While Monmouth boardwalks were busy, there was a sense that some businesses had been hurt by cancelled reservations or postponed day trips among people scared off by ominous forecasts earlier in the week.
Still, DiMaso said she would not know for sure until the county surveyed shore business owners on their weekend performance later in the week.
And she said businesses were hopeful that Monday and the rest of the week would bounce back, though county officials would continue to monitor the surf for surges or rip tides.
Gov. Chris Christie, who had declared a state of emergency along the shore on Saturday, appeared in Morristown on Sunday, when the weather had turned out much brighter than the forecasts.
Christie was eager to explain why he had made the declaration, which helped prepare the state for storm-related emergencies but also may also have stoked fears among would-be vacationers. He called Hermine "a damned if you do and damned if you don't" event.
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.