Hurricane Risk in Margate City, NJ: The Night of August 22, 2025
Margate City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, on Absecon Island, a barrier island it shares with Atlantic City, Ventnor City, and Longport. On the night of Thursday, August 22, 2025, Hurricane Erin never made landfall in New Jersey at all -- it stayed well offshore -- and its storm surge still triggered more than 50 water rescues in Margate, per 6ABC Philadelphia. That is not a hypothetical hurricane-season warning. It is a real, dated, named event, and it is the clearest evidence available of what this low-lying barrier-island city faces even from a storm that never came ashore. This page lays out exactly what happened that night, what Margate's own recorded storm history shows about its vulnerability, and what remains unconfirmed, honestly and without invented figures.
The Night of August 22, 2025: More Than 50 Water Rescues
On the night of Thursday, August 22, 2025, Hurricane Erin's storm surge caused flooding that triggered more than 50 water rescues in Margate, per 6ABC Philadelphia. At least 30 people were rescued from flooded restaurants on Amherst Avenue -- both Sofia's and Maynard's took on water that night. Maynard's owner Steve Troiano described the scene directly: "We had wet vacs. We were pumping it out of the back door and it was coming in the front door." Separately, 16 people and 3 dogs were rescued from stranded vehicles using high-water rescue vehicles deployed specifically for that purpose.
Margate Fire Chief Daniel Adams issued a direct warning to residents afterward: "Heed the warnings of your lifeguards. Pay attention. The rip currents are not going to be here for a number of days post this storm." A gas leak, an underground transformer fire, and an electrical fire were also reported in Margate that same night, on top of the water rescues, per 6ABC Philadelphia. Officials anticipated similar flooding risk during the high tides that followed. No structural or permanent property damage beyond these confirmed rescues and reported gas/electrical incidents was confirmed in the research behind this page, and none is invented here.
A Storm That Never Made Landfall
What makes the night of August 22, 2025 worth sitting with is what Hurricane Erin actually was, from Margate's vantage point: an offshore hurricane, not a direct hit. Erin's track stayed out in the Atlantic; it did not make landfall in New Jersey. The flooding, the 50-plus water rescues, the restaurant evacuations on Amherst Avenue, and the stranded vehicles were all produced by storm surge and elevated tides from a storm that never came ashore here. For a city built on a narrow barrier island, that is the risk in plain terms: a hurricane can pass well offshore and still put more than 50 people into rescue boats and high-water vehicles in a single night.
This is also a real and current story in the sense that matters for planning purposes: it happened in 2025, it is dated and named, and it involved on-the-record officials and named local businesses, not a generic seasonal warning. It is the single clearest, most recent data point available for what Margate's hurricane and coastal-storm exposure actually looks like in practice.
A Longer History: The 1906 Boardwalk and the 1944 and 1962 Storms
Margate's storm vulnerability is not a new development. Per Wikipedia, a boardwalk built in 1906 was constructed closer to the ocean than Atlantic City's own boardwalk, which made it more exposed to storm damage from the start. Large portions of that boardwalk were destroyed in the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, one of the most damaging storms to strike the Jersey Shore in the twentieth century. The sections of boardwalk that survived 1944 remained standing until the 1962 Ash Wednesday Storm, a severe nor'easter that caused major destruction up and down the Mid-Atlantic coast, finally finished the job.
Read together, the 1906-1944-1962 boardwalk history and the August 22, 2025 Hurricane Erin flooding are more than a century apart but point at the same underlying fact: Margate sits on a narrow stretch of Absecon Island, built closer to the water than its neighbor to the north, and it has been recording real storm damage there for well over a hundred years. That is a pattern, not a one-off.
Geography: A Narrow City on Absecon Island
Per Wikipedia, Margate City has a total area of 1.63 square miles, of which 1.42 square miles is land and 0.22 square miles is water. It sits on Absecon Island, a barrier island shared with Atlantic City to the north, Ventnor City in between, and Longport to the south. The 2020 census recorded a population of 5,317, down 1,037 (-16.3%) from 6,354 in 2010 -- and 2010 was itself down 1,839 (-22.4%) from 8,193 in 2000, a sustained decline across two decades. Of the city's 7,124 housing units, 62.8% were vacant, predominantly seasonal or vacation homes, alongside 2,651 year-round households.
A barrier island this narrow, with open Atlantic Ocean on one side and back-bay water on the other, has limited elevation and limited buffer against storm surge from either direction. Margate's own August 2025 experience -- more than 50 water rescues from a storm that stayed offshore -- is a direct, recent illustration of what that geography means in practice, not an abstract risk category.
What This Page Does Not Confirm
This page confirms the August 22, 2025 Hurricane Erin flooding event -- more than 50 water rescues, at least 30 people from Amherst Avenue's Sofia's and Maynard's restaurants, 16 people and 3 dogs from stranded vehicles, a gas leak, a transformer fire, and an electrical fire -- per 6ABC Philadelphia, along with the 1906 boardwalk's construction, its partial destruction in the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, and its remaining sections' loss in the 1962 Ash Wednesday Storm, per Wikipedia. It does not state any dollar figure for storm damage on any of these dates, and it does not state a casualty count beyond the confirmed rescues above -- none of that was confirmed in the research behind this page, and none of it is invented here. It also does not assign Margate, or any part of it, to a specific FEMA flood zone or evacuation zone letter, and it does not state a current hurricane-season forecast or storm-frequency statistic specific to this city.
This page also does not state a current Margate City or Atlantic County property tax rate or a current New Jersey state sales tax rate. New Jersey has its own real state sales tax and its own property-tax structure, genuinely different from states with no sales tax at all -- this is this site's eleventh New Jersey market, following Cape May, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Avalon, Sea Isle City, Ocean City, Strathmere, and Longport -- and current figures should be confirmed directly rather than assumed. Current (2026) population, median home price, and active listing counts beyond the 2020 census figure of 5,317 were also not confirmed this research pass.
Where to Find Current Data
For current, address-specific risk assessment and evacuation planning, the right first stop is the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, which coordinates statewide hurricane and coastal-storm preparedness, evacuation routes, and shelter information, alongside Atlantic County's own emergency management office for local zone assignments. For live storm tracking, forecasts, and historical hurricane data, use NOAA's National Hurricane Center.
For a property-specific flood zone determination, use FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, and for FEMA's own hurricane and flood preparedness guidance, visit FEMA directly. For current tax rates, assessment figures, or municipal storm-response and flood-mitigation planning, contact Margate City's own municipal offices directly, rather than relying on any fixed date given here. For coverage and premium questions -- including how New Jersey's insurance and coastal-property rules work -- talk to a New Jersey-licensed insurance professional before making any purchase decision. Nothing on this page is emergency-management, insurance, or engineering advice.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. The August 22, 2025 Hurricane Erin flooding event in Margate City -- more than 50 water rescues, at least 30 people rescued from Amherst Avenue's Sofia's and Maynard's restaurants (Maynard's owner Steve Troiano quoted directly), 16 people and 3 dogs rescued from stranded vehicles using high-water rescue vehicles, Fire Chief Daniel Adams's direct warning about lifeguards and rip currents, and the gas leak, transformer fire, and electrical fire also reported that night -- is sourced from 6ABC Philadelphia's coverage. Margate City's location on Absecon Island in Atlantic County, New Jersey, shared with Atlantic City, Ventnor City, and Longport; its 1.63-square-mile total area (1.42 sq mi land, 0.22 sq mi water); its 2020 census population of 5,317 (down 1,037, -16.3%, from 6,354 in 2010, itself down 1,839, -22.4%, from 8,193 in 2000); its 7,124 housing units with 62.8% vacancy; and its 1906 boardwalk's construction closer to the ocean than Atlantic City's, its partial destruction in the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, and its remaining sections' loss in the 1962 Ash Wednesday Storm, are all sourced from Wikipedia's own Margate City, New Jersey entry. No dollar figure for storm damage on any date, no casualty figure beyond the confirmed rescues above, no current FEMA flood-zone designation, current property tax rate, New Jersey state sales tax rate, current median home price, or current active-listing count was confirmed in the research behind this page, and none is invented here. For current risk assessment and preparedness guidance, contact the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management and Atlantic County's own emergency management office directly; for live storm tracking and historical hurricane data, use NOAA's National Hurricane Center; for flood zone determinations and preparedness resources, use FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and FEMA directly; and for coverage questions, consult a New Jersey-licensed insurance professional. Nothing on this page is emergency-management, insurance, or engineering advice.