Throughout the the early hours on Thursday Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger and two DPW supervisors monitored flooding threats in Middletown's low-lying communities.

With the memory of Hurricane Sandy still fresh in everyone's mind, officials were worried that the forecast of heavy rain coupled with strong winds could force water into the streets of places like Port Monmouth, Belford and Leonardo. 

But the sky didn't fall in after all, said the mayor. 

 "The flooding last night was about the same as the afternoon," said Scharfenberger. "We anticipated it being higher, but the rain never materialized. The wind was not as severe as forecasted. There was no snow. There were no power outages reported. Police reported very few, of any, complaints. We didn’t have to bring any crews in." 

Water pooled in the typical places in the neighborhoods, to the same extent it had done at the 3 p.m. Wednesday high tide. (See story and photos.) 

In the light of the morning, the mayor said it is "always better to be safe than sorry."