Hurricane Erin stirred up serious trouble along the Jersey coastline over the last 24 hours despite never making landfall here.

From dangerous rip currents to street flooding and beach erosion, towns up and down the shoreline are battling the storm's powerful coastal aftermath, with some beaches remaining closed, swimming still off limits, and residents in Egg Harbor Township on edge after being evacuated due to flooding late last night.

For local leaders, the bigger worry now is the long-term toll.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis has more from Monmouth County.

- We've had quite a rough surf here for the last three days.

This is the third solid day of rough surf.

We had the beach closed now for three days, like many towns up and down the Jersey Shore.

For most people along the shore, Hurricane Erin didn't bring much more than big waves and beach closures.

As the sun came out today, lifeguards had their hands full keeping people out of the water, reminding them it's still a code red, or a double red flag as they call it, meaning absolutely no swimming.

You look at how beautiful the day is today, the last few days of summer, it's hard to tell people no on a day like today.

But this is a very dangerous surf right now.

It doesn't look too friendly, and I'm glad of that, but if you get caught in a rip in this, it is not an easy thing to get out of.

So we are advising no one in the surf.

We're letting people maybe get their feet wet.

Lifeguard stands are all open, beaches open, but we are not letting anybody in the water throughout today.

If someone is in the water, I see surfers.

Will lifeguards make a rescue if needed?

Absolutely.

That's why they're here.

We're here tonight till seven o'clock.

Does that put them in jeopardy?

Yes, it does.

I mean, they're highly trained and everything, but anytime you go into water with these surf conditions, it does put them in jeopardy.

And unfortunately, people don't listen to the warnings or anything, and they still try to get in.

some beach towns chasing people out of the water will be the worst of the storm.

But for others, flooding and beach erosion are the more stark reality.

Some towns last night saw waves crashing over the seawall onto the street.

Belmar had water coming up to the beach heads and streets were flooded throughout LBI.

That wasn't from rain bands associated with the storm.

But it was really the coastal impacts.

The beaches, the water came up to the berm, came out into the streets at high tide on Thursday evening, still may go out into the streets at high tide on Friday evening.

The water heights down in Cape May came just within a couple of inches of being considered a major coastal flood.

New Jersey State climatologist Dave Robinson says the impacts of Hurricane Erin will be long-lasting.

That storm really churned up the Atlantic and it's going to take some time for it to calm back down.

along the coast are still tides as we go friday, ev good wave heights.

I mean wave heights along and ne had significant beach ero like upper township in Cap the mayor said part of hi has no more beach on the New Jersey's shore Monmoo summers is concerned abou his town lost this past w we've lost about 50% of t had what we had about abo some of that sand may mig know that through history we understand when we lose this much, we don't normally see it come back in total.

Monmouth Beach is considered an erosion hotspot and has worked with the Army Corps of Engineers over the years to replenish its beaches, especially here where even last night the waves crashed right up to the base of this high-rise housing complex.

A spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Protection said the office expects to begin post-storm inspections of beaches tomorrow, focusing on areas that typically experience erosion.

And Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew said he's been in touch with federal agencies so that if there is any damage along our shore, we will have the resources and support we need.

But Summers says FEMA budget cuts have him worried they won't get relief.

Some three quarters of the funding has been stripped away from this year's Army Corps projects.

So this is going to have an impact, not just in New Jersey, but all along the coast of the United States.

If you were planning on a beach weekend, there's still hope for the water to open up.

Emergency management teams say they'll be out here early in the morning looking at wind conditions, whether the surf is coming down and of course how strong the rip currents are.

They know you want to be in the water, but safety has to come first.

In Long Branch, I'm Joanna Gagis, NJ Spotlight News.

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