Jersey Shore Magazine

From The Publisher Welcome to the fall/holiday edition of JERSEY SHORE, the magazine celebrating Bay Head beach. 2013 marks our thirtieth year of publishing magazines, guidebooks, maps, internet sites, and beautiful books about the Jersey Shore. In addition to our two seasonal issues of JERSEY SHORE (fall/holiday and spring), we also publish during the summer months our popular guidebooks and maps, JERSEY SHORE Vacation Magazine, the JERSEY SHORE Vacation Map, and LONG BEACH ISLAND Vacation Guidebook & Map. Our publications include a companion website, JERSEY SHORE Publications Online (www.jerseyshorevacation.com), the internet's largest and most informative site about the central and northern New Jersey Coast. the Jersey Coast in Ocean and Monmouth counties. This special collector's edition is about what has transpired since Superstorm Sandy devastated the Jersey Shore one year ago. For many, this has been the year of "Living Sandy." For those of us impacted by the Superstorm, who has not had its aftermath dominate their thoughts, emotions, and daily activities every day since October 29, 2012? My family and I are scheduled to move back into our home on October 17, more than fifty weeks after our house and property were nearly destroyed by four feet of storm surge. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, and it is for our children; however, my wife and I feel no relief. The government is telling us we have to raise our home eight or nine feet or our flood insurance rate will soar to over $30,000. per year, rendering our home unlivable and unsellable. So, unless we raise our home, we will be forced to leave it. Initial estimates are saying it will require between $100,000. and $150,000. to do this. After the trials of rebuilding, this challenge is our next mission in life. Thousands of people are in the same situation. This past year, over and over we've heard, "Rebuild and get back in, then worry about raising your home later..." It's now later. Although I don't want to raise our home, it seems prudent to do so as no one knows if Sandy was "a 500-year-storm" or "the new reality" due to climate change. These discussions happen over and over between residents. But to be forced to raise your home or have it rendered worthless by a dysfunctional government is unforgivable. It is my hope, and the hope of thousands of others, that our politicians will solve this problem by giving people back their freedom of choice to do this, and for those who want to raise their homes but cannot, that they once again regulate the flood insurance premiums so that they are affordable. If politicians feel they must force people to raise their homes, they need to provide funding to do this. So far, the grants are not covering it. We applied for Christie's "Homeowner Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation Program" (RREM) and were told that we may be eligible but that there were no more funds available and that they'd be in touch if the federal government makes additional monies available. How many thousands of people are suffering through this same uncertainty? Tens of thousands. Strange happenings continue to occur during this first year after the storm. On June 13, a small tidal wave swept through Barnegat Inlet. Was this caused by a collapse of the ocean floor due to its changed topography after Sandy? As of now, researchers do not have the answer. Later in the month, a WWII mine was discovered exposed in low tide off the eroded beach at Johnson Street (also known as The Bluff's beach) in Bay Head. For almost eighty years, it sat there while bathers swam over it enjoying the surf. Then in September, five blocks of the newly rebuilt Seaside boardwalk burned to the ground. The fire is believed to have been indirectly caused by Sandy. Salt water corroded wires under the boardwalk and sparked a fire that caused the conflagration. The Superstorm continues to surprise. On the preceding pages are presented photographs of the shore just days after the storm by photographer David Turton from his new books "Aftermath – Images of Superstorm Sandy at the Jersey Shore" (Volume I – Ocean County and Volume II – Monmouth County) published by Jersey Shore Publications. On the morning after the Superstorm devastated much of the Jersey Shore, David headed out on foot and by boat to document the storm's aftermath. In these books are presented his visionary images of the catastrophe on the barrier Island from Seaside Park to Point Pleasant Beach (Volume I, currently available) and in Monmouth County from Manasquan to Sea Bright (Volume II, available in early 2014). These astonishing photographs preserve not only the aftereffects of the Superstorm in this region but also David's personal jourcontinued on page 74 www.jerseyshorevacation.com • Subscriptions and Book Orders, Toll Free: 888-22-SHORE

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