UPDATE: Over 60 Evacuated from Homes, Trailers Following Flooding

More than 60 homes and campers were evacuated late Sunday night into early Monday morning as flooding after Hurricane Irene continues to affect portions of the Toms River in Manchester.

Chief Brian Klimakowski said that 13 residences were evacuated Sunday night in Cedar Glen, a neighborhood off of Ridgeway Road (Route 571) near Manchester's border with Toms River.

Over 50 campers and mobile home occupants were then told to leave the the Surf and Stream campground early Monday morning. Flood waters at the campground, which is about 400 feet southeast from Cedar Glen on the opposite side of Route 571, rose to 3 feet in some sections, Klimakowski said.

United Methodist Church in Whiting is sheltering nine evacuees, Klimakowski said. They will stay there until waters receed and it is safe for them to return to their homes. Though water levels in flooded areas have dropped since the initial flooding Sunday night, it is unclear if high tide could cause them to rise again.

Pine Lake has breached its damn and water is flooding Birmingham Place. The historic Pine Lake Park Clubhouse is experiencing flooding, Klimakowski said, and the 10th Avenue bridge is closed due to flooding, causing traffic.

"This is basically our back exit to 571 from Pine Lake Park," he said.

The chief advises residents to follow detours and stay out of flood waters.

"These areas are coned off for a reason," he said.

Klimakowski arrived on the scene at Cedar Glen at about 9 p.m. Sunday and began advising residents who live near the river in flood-prone areas to leave.

After about eight homes were evacuated personally by the chief, other officers and emergency responders arrived to aid in the effort.

They knocked on doors and shined flashlights into homes in low lying areas to see if anyone was home.

The river had risen before, but never this high, the chief said.

"It's moving a lot faster than I've ever seen it move."

As one elderly man answered the knock at his front door at Walnut Street Klimakowski told him: "I think it's time to go."

The flood waters approached at the base of his driveway. At the rate the water was rising, his home and vehicle may have been in danger in hours.

By 10:44 p.m., a portion of Walnut Street was knee deep. Water was now entering homes.

Klimakowski urged residents in the area to get themselves and their vehicles out of the neighborhood before roads were further flooded and impassable.

As the chief walked through the affected streets, worried residents like Pam Barnett and Kris Steinley stopped him. Though their homes on Walnut and Central Streets seemed far enough from rising waters, they still asked, should we leave?

Klimakowkski gave a tempered answer. If you have someone to stay with tonight, evacuating would be for the best, he said.

"It's nighttime. If it were daytime, I'd say peek out the window every half hour," he said. "But now, you may go to bed and wake up with water on your feet."

Beech, River, Walnut and Central streets in the development are all affected with visible flooding. Rescuers have also evacuated a male and female resident and their two cats from the Walnut Street.

Resident Martin Gobosack said that the flooding was just another event in what he called an "unusual" week filled with an , and .

"It's been hell," he said as he watched Cedar Glen crews remove maintenance vehicles from an increasingly-flooding recreation center parking lot. "It's really something."

Klimakowski said that emergency crews from the Ridgeway and Manchester Volunteer Fire Departments, in addition to Manchester police officers, will remain at the neighborhood throughout the night to monitor the water levels and evacuate more homes if necessary.

This is the second report of flooding along the northern branch of the Toms River within hours. At 8:30 p.m., an evacuation was underway upstream at Homestead Run Mobile Home Park, where 30 residents were transported to for shelter.