George Bush sure screwed this up

Ocean City is still a mess yet the propaganda put out there for the public tries to paint a rosey picture of the town......as in.....business as usual in OC. NO it is NOT!! I really resent statements such as that. I am suffering...still homeless....home still not ready to live in as are countless of others. Please OC.....stop the lies!!!

Amen. I too still live in a hotel. We lost everything in Seaside Heights, Oct 29, and in NO way is it over...

So sorry for those of you still affected. I am not being political here, but I fail to see the sense of sending $250 million dollars to Egypt when we have this going on here....WTF are our elected representatives in Washington doing? there is such a a lack of leadership it makes me sick...

Are Seaside bars open at night? I know there was a curfew.

thank you for that heartfelt and real story which hit home for many who are shuffling thru their lives right now in limbo, waiting for checks, waiting for FEMA, just waiting....a wonderful description of how many people feel!

I lost my home i was renting in ortley for years....it was home. And as i drove threw my neighborhood yesterday the tears and just utter disbelief on my face....it still looks like it happened yesterday. The only difference is the debris from the inside of the homes is mostley gone...and even if my house was able to be lived in i dont no if i could look at the dismay and destruction and homowners walken in a daze ....i finally found a place in seaside. Tho its not my first choice being on the island is my life and nothen against seaside im just older and like quieter area....but i wont leave island.....but i also didnt loose what many have had passed down or had there life invested in. I do feel there pain i do know what its like as i lost a home ....but iam very shocked at how it looks and i feel its gonna be a quiet summer and i dont think people will feel much excitment and relaxation knowing and seeing all the abandoned homes and knowing how much pain there is in the air

It will be a slow long road to recovery dont believe all the rhetoric

Congress must amend the Biggert-Waters Act so that FEMA doesn't destroy the Shore with its erroneous maps, over-kill house-raising elevations and exorbitant annual insurance costs. FEMA has caused more damage than Sandy did.

Join the fight. MEETING Sat. Mar. 9th, 3-4 PM, Silverton First Aid Squad, 86 Maine (like the state) St., Toms River.

www.facebook.com/StopFemaNow www.StopFemaNow.com Twitter #StopFemaNow

Gov. Christie should use EMINENT DOMAIN to get easements for building dunes and replenishing beaches. Nobody's precious view is more important than my safety and my house. Sandy overwashed the barrier island, overfilling the bay and flooding my house on the mainland. Now there are flood warnings with every little storm.

After protecting the shoreline, clean out the bay (1 million cubic feet of sand, houses, boats, debris). Stop the floods, let boaters navigate it and generate revenues again.

Meanwhile, FEMA's abusive power must be curbed. Why should NJ's money bail out that federal bureaucracy from its Katrina debt? ==> StopFemaNow.com

Martin, we who live in the Southend of Ocean City have been "begging" our city officials to replenish the beaches down here. The last ten blocks were totally wiped out by Sandy. Prior to Sandy, many high tides met the dunes. We have ocean front homes and these are very popular beaches with tourists. We have been an authorized beach replenishment project for a few years, with no funding. We heard from the NJDEP and ACE last week, that "it is impossible to rebuild a beach that is underwater." The dredging project would be enormous, as the beaches are so eroded. Yet, no one seems to know how to cut through the red tape and replenish these beaches. Then we read that the red tape was cut and Atlantic City is scheduled for replenishment. The Governor decrees, "all NJ beaches will be replenished". When, who knows, Now we wait out another nor 'easter.

AC, boardwalks and businesses seem to be a priority over the 100,000 homeowners who are still suffering from Sandy and the second disaster called FEMA! It's tourists over taxpayers. Thanks for nothing, Gov.

StopFemaNow.com

This article in today's Patch tells it all. So many people are still displaced and devastated that were along Sandy's path. Yet so many others think "all is well"...but it is not! Barnegat D.O.V.E., Operation Meatball & Stand Together And Give are out there every day still helping those in need & will be there for the long run. If you need help, contact Barnegat D.O.V.E. on Facebook. Thank you.

Thank you for so eloquently stating how so many of us feel. I live in Long Branch and have not suffered the devastation of a total loss of my home however I am still displaced and having difficulty rebuilding. I lost my power wheelchair in the flood and am still trying to get it replaced. I'm making headway with the flood insurance carrier but I believe there should have been more effort made to replace medical equipment immediately. It's been more than 4 months and I am still waiting!

It's hard for others to imagine what we are going through. It was hard for me to imagine before it happened to me. Thank you to everyone who has helped by volunteering or by donating. Your caring is helping us get through this. We want to go back to the Jersey Shore that everyone has known and loved.

I went home last Saturday morning to Brick...now that all the discarded wet piles of moldy carpet, insulation and furnishings have been hauled away it looks somewhat normal again except for that fact that its like a ghost town, and only two elderly couples are currently living on our block now...two houses across the street are condemned and will soon be bulldozed...my wife and I are just sick. Now we are just waiting...waiting for some indication of how to get back in our home again. Although we have received a lot of help and encouragement from our families ...we have to wait to get more information...do we mitigate our home and then somehow down the road elevate it with funds that we don't have? Or do we knock it down and rebuild a home that is elevated?...the decisions are unending...we have just enough money to replace most our belongings that were destroyed and to demolish the walls up four feet and replace all the floors, plumbing, electrical and appliances...but then what if we are required to then elevate our home due to the new flood base maps that won't become final until late this summer? In our minds we ask will this always be a sick house with a questionable foundation...so we wait for answers and debate the best solution for the future....all the while making mortgage payments on a home we cannot live in...its like being stuck in an elevator between floors...we ask each other where do we go from here?

My wife and I have never been through a flood before this one and like some of you have stated nothing can prepare you for the devastation that it caused...I know this though, when I see this happen to others in the future we will have much more compassion for what they must be going through and how a helping hand is needed by volunteers and individuals as much as FEMA and other groups that are assigned to help the victims. We just want to thank all those people who have helped us and other storm victims the last four months. Thank You.

Since the storm happened "out of season", as you drive up and down 35, it can just look as if it were a bad storm and businesses closed for the winter, such as in the case of Barnacle Bill's.
The effects and realities will become more apparent when July 4th comes around. But, instead of looking at how bad it is (that would be a natural reaction) look at how much progress has been accomplished.
Remember, the strip wasn't built over one winter, either.

Great story Pat. I haven't made it back home yet in Brick, living in Monmouth County. I feel your same pain. Travis

I hope obama's summer rental in the Hamptons is ok

Barnacle bills so sad, I witnessed all of the arcades on the sidewalk waiting for the trashman, so many pinball machines. I know we all have plenty of other issues, but those pinball machines hurt to see. Good luck to everyone, reach out for help, it's around. Have faith the fema maps will be updated, they just have to be. Sadly we are all in limbo until then.

Yes, can definitely relate to this article. We rent our toms river home, was always our home, to our son and his girlfriend. Off Fischer Blvd. 5 1/2 feet of water. After it was gutted i went there and could not stop crying, this was our home since 1983. Well, many sleepless nights, mind whirling, many, many phone calls and red tape. Depression has sunk in. My son, girlfriend, daughter and granddaughter and in laws from seaside all homeless, took them all in, devestating......luckily in laws were able to rent next door to me from my generous snow bird neigbor. They will not go back to their home, it sits there. This week, after much labor from my husband, son, family members and good friends, the kids could go back home. Now here comes another flood warning, omg, can't take this anymore. Not looking for pity, just need to vent. My elderly in laws lost all, they are now moving near us, but still have the seaside house, which they don't know what to do with. Putting it on the market, but lucky if we can sell it.........sad, just so dam sad......can't take this anymore......

http://nolaslate.blogspot.com/2012/10/unsolicited-advice-to-northeast-in.html?m=1

Barbara, little by little this message from a Katrina victim keeps coming back up in my mind, hang in there, try not to sell the house now, you'll get no where near what is worth. The parade is this weekend :), hooks is having an fu sandy theme...

Like so many of you, we too, are Sandy victims. The storm left 17" of water in our home. Just enough to ruin everything. The entire contents of our home, our lives, were thrown to the curb. As the town trucks were discarding our personal belongings, my heart broke as the tears ran down my face. At that moment, I actually felt like I was living a nightmare. I kept waiting to wake up, eventually, reality set in. Our waterfront community now looks like a good day in Newark. Homes are demolished, boarded up and/or abandoned. Debris is still scattered throughout the neighborhood. After 5 days on the market, we received a contract, great offer, cash deal. We're headed south, out of state. After fighting with NJ Manu. we FINALLY got the amount we wanted. You have to fight with your ins.co. Don't settle. It took us 4 months. We're done with NJ Manu. They suck! I wish everyone the best of luck.

Thank you Local4Life.........
this link so true.....

Good luck Southbond.......

Thank you Barbara and good luck to you also. I keep waiting to wake up.....Sandy devastated the coastline, ruined lives and destroyed some marriages.....Sandy changed all of us forever.

Tough times don't last . . . Tough people do!

anyone know if the Point Beach boys basketball team won ? game was sold out and about a hundred fans were left outside listenening for results.

Hear ya, Southbound.....Can't wait to get over all this and move to Naples, Fla......someday...

Great article. Thank you. For those who didn't suffer damage or only minimal damage, they need to remember that there are now countless families who are homeless. They are not the "homeless" that you see on city streets. They are people who had homes, lives, jobs, paid their taxes and mowed their lawns. It was all there one day and, literally one day later, it was gone. Families went generations living in the same house, never seeing the type of damage that came on October 29. New houses may sound great, but for those who now have to build them, it wasn't a choice. It's hard to keep making lemonade out of this pile of lemons.

The ocean met the bay in that one around Mantoloking, if memory serves me, but, now, it looks minimal compared to Sandy.

Need to thank Toms River for attempting to protect the Ocean from parts of Ortley Beach. However, this is just a very temporary fix, which is costing the tax payers thousands of dollars. Additionally, let it be understood that these piles of sand that are being placed on our beaches are NOT "DUNES" as is being reported by various television reporters, they are "Piles of Sand" and are just a temporary fix. We must all write to our Legislatures, the Army Corps of Engineers and Governor and anyone else you may listen that they must build our dunes properly, they must provide beach restoration as soon as possible, not two years down the road and the Governor must take action against the private beach owners and make them either sign an easement to take care of the beaches or direct them exactly as to how the beaches needed to be protected in accordance with the State Rules and Regulations, not those of the private beach owners. I see that some of the private beach owners are taking it upon themselves to move sand from our beaches to protect their own private property, since when is that allowed?

I keep seeing that Toms River and Brick are having voluntary evacuations. I was wondering why Berkeley wasn't. Oh yeah! There is no one left to evacuate. Most of the houses are EMPTY (including mine). Good Luck to all. I feel your pain, frustration and dispare.

so sad wish i could just run away

Yesterday, I drove from Bay Head to Seaside Hts., for the first time since the storm. I hadn't done it earlier for a couple of reasons, one being that it was impossible until fairly recently, but more so because I didn't want to be a disaster tourist. I remember the day after Sandy, and how many people came to gawk at the boats on the railroad tracks in Pt. Beach, and clog up Rte 88 to come and have a look. I never wanted to be in that group. I'm a Shore native, and have lived here nearly my entire life. As we drove south on route 35 yesterday I wanted to cry. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and I live eight blocks from the ocean. I sincerely hope houses and lives can be reconstructed in some way. My heart goes out to anyone who lost what they had, their homes, possessions, way of life, and security.

Wow so many peaple that were living their dream of living at the jersey shore as close to the water as possible now are living through a nightmare. I always saw peaple living near the boardwalks or close to the ocean as elite or semi retired living the way peaple settle down when they have it all together. I think it is shamefull the way fema is treating a lot of you and I take little lesson away from the whole thing. I wish all of you the best of luck and hope your nightmare turns into your dream again.