Accordingly, the agency issued a hurricane watch for the East Coast of the United States from the North Carolina/Virginia border to Sandy Hook in New Jersey.

[9][10] The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSE&G) opted to dispatch roughly 6,000 workers in case of power outages, with 840 lineman and 540 tree contractors.

[17] To relieve evacuation traffic, toll operations were temporarily suspended on the Garden State Parkway south of the Raritan River and on the Atlantic City Expressway.

[24] A Major League Soccer game between the New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy was postponed until October 4.

In real-time, the NHC assessed Irene as a hurricane with 75 mph (121 km/h) maximum sustained winds at landfall.

In addition to the winds, Irene dropped heavy rainfall in New Jersey, reaching 10.32 in (262 mm) in Stockton in Hunterdon County.

[32] Severe river flooding occurred, including Raritan, Millstone, Rockaway, Rahway, Delaware[33] and Passaic due to record rainfall.

According to Executive Director Jim Weinstein Irene cost NJT just under $10 million in lost revenue and damaged infrastructure.

Fallen trees, many pushed from the soaked ground with their roots attached, blocked vital roads from being accessed by local emergency services.

This includes one documented case in Roselle Park where a 13kV (13,000 volt) primary power line remained down, tangled in trees for four days due to the lack of available PSE&G crews.

[citation needed] In total, approximately 1.46 million customers of JCP&L and PSEG throughout most of the 21 counties lost power.

During hearings Kim Guadagno criticized the company's lack of communication in keeping the public informed about the utility's storm response.

"[59] The president the same day declared the state a disaster area,[59] making residents of Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic and Somerset counties eligible for federal aid.

[66] Prior funding will be used to purchase homes in flood-prone areas, notably at Lost Valley section of Manville on the Raritan River[67][68][69] While the deadline for applications for disaster relief was set as October 31, as of September 28 more than 54,000 residents had shared in the $116 million which had been distributed.

[70] In December 2011, it was announced that eight municipalities devastated by the hurricane would receive more than $28 million from the FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

Wayne, on the Passaic River, will receive the most funding from the voluntary program — $6.3 million to buy approximately 56 homes.

[71] In January 2012, the governor signed a bill introduced by the New Jersey Legislature in November 2011 allowing the use of state's open space funding for the purchase of homes in flood-prone areas.

[72][73] Despite the mandatory evacuations ordered for many parts of the Jersey Shore, the damage and flooding in that area of the state was not as severe as predicted.