As summer ends, Sandy effects still linger at the Shore
LONG BEACH ISLAND, N.J. - Walking inside the Sea Shell Resort and Beach Club, the scene felt familiar. Bud Lights are still $5 and the 20-somethings dancing to cover-band staples like Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” remain as ridiculous as ever. But the club, like other businesses in Long Beach Island, N.J., has had a facelift in the months since Hurricane Sandy. Walking through the Beach Haven section of LBI, little remains of the carnage that came in late October 2012 that caused $750 million in damage.
But about two miles to the south, the Holgate section remains on the mend. Located in the southern most point of LBI, Holgate was among one of the hardest hit areas along the Jersey Shore, with close to 500 neighborhood homes suffering property damage. Today, stretches of homes are still damaged, with a couple homes sitting untouched.
Holgate is also the place my family has called its summer home for close to 40 years. Bought by my maternal grandparents in the 1970s, the house has been our family’s piece of paradise. The old brown house has stood long enough to see four generations of family members grow up, graduate, get jobs and raise families. And for a number of residents who've worked their whole lives to carve out a piece of paradise, Holgate is their primary home.
While a majority of the homes have been rebuilt or have started to be fixed up, Holgate continues to be a stark reminder that New Jersey might be stronger than the storm, but that some parts aren’t entirely back just yet. The sadness I feel walking and driving through this part of LBI – the home to so many happy memories for my family and me – is as deep now as it was 11 months ago.
On a gorgeous day in late August, the changes in Holgate are apparent. Across from my family’s home is a vacant lot of sand and grass that was once home to 140 trailer owners. The trailers were so ravaged that the owner of the park decided to sell the lot, saying that rebuilding the trailers would exceed $1 million. (The land is valued at around $12.5 million, according to The Press of Atlantic City.) A few blocks down, a family friend’s home has been completely destroyed. Much like the trailer park, our friend’s lot is now vacant.
The sound of construction trucks moving sand has been another reminder for Maria Alpizar and her family.
"’How did your house make out?’ is the question of the summer,” said Alpizar, a 26-year-old graduate student at La Salle University in Philadelphia. “And some people are almost hesitant to answer, not knowing if the person they are talking to is worse off.”
The Alpizars have been LBI lifers, only a couple blocks away from my family’s home. Within a month, Alpizar’s duplex will be demolished. The family wants to rebuild the home, aiming to reopen by the spring.
The damage in Holgate is still jarring. To give you an idea of how Holgate has changed, here's a three-picture breakdown from Google Earth that highlights what Holgate looked like in 2010 compared to what it looked like as recently as April:
BEFORE SANDY
IMMEDIATELY AFTER SANDY
SIX MONTHS AFTER SANDY
In November, I reported for The Atlantic on the immediate damage in LBI following Sandy. Weeks after the devastation, LBI Mayor Joseph Mancini was optimistic that the summer season, economically, would be up to par – even stronger – than years’ past for small business owners and renters. But the general feeling is that there have been more downs than ups in Holgate this season.
“While Holgate has always been quiet and peaceful, it’s even quieter, in terms of people, this summer,” Alpizar said. “Our street is missing half of its residents. They aren’t down because they can’t be.”
More than one summer is needed for LBI homeowners and businesses to adjust to the new normal. Beach replenishment is expected to help build the beaches back up to where they were before Sandy. Currently, the Holgate beaches are both beautiful and frightening for residents and homeowners.
In an interview with America Tonight's Adam May, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie emphasized the damage left in Holgate and the need for stronger protection of the beaches.
"Go to Holgate on Long Beach Island that had [no dunes]," Christie told May. "But don't bother going to the neighborhood there, cause it's gone."
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Our house was one of the few homes that did have a strong dune, and it still suffered. The dune that once protected my grandparents’ summer home is now flat. The view from the house is peaceful – for now.
For more coverage, tune into America Tonight this evening at 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT. Correspondent Adam May talks to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie about the debate surrounding the best way to protect the New Jersey beaches.
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