State Authorities Monitoring TS Sandy

The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and the National Weather Service are closely monitoring Tropical Storm Sandy to see what impact it might have on the area as it moves up the coast. 

On its Facebook page the OEM reports, "There is a potential for a very powerful and dangerous autumn store to affect our region early next week." The statement continues, "There is a growing threat of strong winds, very heavy rainfall, coastal flooding and inland flooding to affect our region early next week."

The National Weather Service says the impact the storm has on the area depends on how the storm tracks over the next five days or so. While it is currently listed as a Tropical Storm as of Tuesday the National Weather Service expects it to be upgraded to a hurricane on Wednesday and move north. 

Whether the storm moves out to sea or up the coast the National Weather Service says a large area could be affected based on the size of the predicted storm. They also expect it to be a slow moving storm which could mean more damage for the area it crosses. 

Stay with Patch for more information as the storm develops.