9:55 A.M. Update: Lacey Escapes Irene With Little Damage

9:55 a.m. Sunday

Lacey Township escaped Hurricane Irene with little damage, Chief Police William Nally said.

“So far we’re looking good,” he said.

There has been some minor damage with fallen trees and limbs. Some homes sustained minor damage but the town got through the night with no injuries, he said.

Downed trees have been taken care of but there is small debris everywhere, Director of Public Works Casey Parker said.

There is some tidal flooding by the lagoons in the Forked River Beach area. Lacey roads did not experience flooding due to the rain and backed up catch basins and no barricades were needed in town, he said.

“I think it was much better than they predicted. That’s a good thing,” Parker said. “We were very fortunate.”

Parker is hoping the tidal flooding will blow out as the tide change, he said.

But Public Works still has their work cut out for them this week cleaning up the streets and parks of small debris.

“We’ll be busy the entire week,” he said.

5:30 a.m. Sunday

Downed trees and wires are causing power outages in areas of Lacey Township, Police Chief William Nally said.

JCP&L is reporting at least 1,797 customers are without power. Some of the areas affected include Lake Barnegat Drive, East Lacey Road, Laurel Boulevard and the pines, Nally said.

Flooding has not been a major issue yet, Nally said.

Although he has not been down Beach Boulevard in a while, currently none of the major roads are flooded, he said.

"I expect it to pick up in the next hour," Nally said.

10 p.m. Saturday

Lacey is beginning to see dangerous conditions with flooding, trees and telephone poles down and fires, Chief William Nally said.

“Everything seems to be okay so far. But the worst has yet to come,” Public Works Director Casey Parker said.

Parker said the department responded to a vehicle accident earlier today where they had to put barricades up.

There is some minor flooding with standing water, he said.

Nally added that there have been a few fires due to fallen electrical wires.

“I expect things to heat up. This is just the beginning,” he said. “We just want people to stay home now.”

JCP&L is also reporting a power outage in Forked River. Approximately 82 customers and a total of 4,884 customers are without power in Ocean County.