Township officials hear sobering predictions about the storm. Photos by Mary Walton
NOTE: This story was updated with new information at 1:55 p.m. on Sunday.
By Charles Layton
Neptune Township officials said Sunday that Hurricane Sandy will be catastrophic.
“I expect the complete destruction of the pier, the pavilion, the
boardwalk, everything,” said Rick Cuttrell, the township clerk, who also
serves as Neptune’s in-house meteorologist.
“This storm is worse than any storm on record in New Jersey,” Michael
Bascom, Neptune’s coordinator of emergency management, added.
Their strong and unequivocal language came during presentations to
the Township’s key personnel, who gathered Sunday morning at the Midtown
Community School. A part of the school has been converted into an
emergency center for the duration of the storm, which is expected to
last for several days.
Phil Huhn, Neptune’s business administrator, said our area could expect the storm’s steady, hard rain to last for 40 hours.
Officials also predicted wide-spread power failures for extended periods of time.
Homes in Ocean Grove, particularly near the lakes and along Ocean
Avenue, are likely to be inundated by record tides. Bascom said the
highest anticipated tide could send water past Central Avenue.
Deputy Mayor Eric Houghtaling signed an official declaration of
emergency following the briefing. The declaration allows local officials
to impose curfews, close roads, restrict traffic flows and mobilize all
the Township’s assets and employees – everyone from librarians to
police to maintenance and sanitation workers. Many Township employees
will be spending the next couple of nights sleeping on cots in public
buildings.
Deputy Mayor Eric Houghtaling signs declaration of emergency
On Bascom’s orders, policemen, firemen and Office of Emergency
Management personnel began going door-to-door Sunday afternoon in the
most flood-prone areas to urge residents – in the strongest possible
terms – to evacuate.
Out of a range of recent predictions about the course and destructive
power of the impending storm, Bascom said the worst-case scenario was
the one that was coming true. He said there was no chance now that Sandy
would swerve away at the last moment. In fact, he said, Monmouth County
and Neptune will be hit by the northeast quadrant of the storm, which
is the part carrying the hardest wind and the thickest rain.
Cuttrell illustrated on a large graphic display how the tides from
Sandy will be higher than either those of Hurricane Irene last year or
the devastating northeaster of 1992.
Monday morning’s tide will be 9½ feet, he said. The next tide, on
Monday night, will be 11½ feet, breaking all records for high tides.
Both would be several feet higher than the tides during Irene and during
the 1992 northeaster. And that doesn’t consider the action of waves,
which, driven by tropical-storm strength winds, could run as high as 25
feet.
Governor Christie declared a state of emergency on Saturday.
Voluntary evacuations from South Jersey’s barrier islands were underway
on Saturday, and mandatory evacuations from there and from the Atlantic
City Casinos were due to start on Sunday.
While Neptune has no plans for mandatory evacuations, residents are
being urged in the strongest terms to move inland if they live in a
flood-prone area, depend on electricity for special medical treatment,
live alongside any body of water, or live in a mobile home or other
vulnerable structure. Anyone who is not prepared to remain at home for
three days without power, or who simply feels unsafe at home for any
reason, is also urged to leave. Bascom said anyone who intends to leave
should do so on Sunday.
Bascom: “…worse than any storm on record…”
The best option for evacuees is to stay with friends or relatives
outside the storm’s major area of impact, Bascom said. Monmouth County
has opened shelters at Monmouth University and at the Arthur Brisbane
Center in Wall Township, and those are now available to Neptune
residents. He said residents should not go directly to those places;
rather, they should go to the Neptune High School at 55 Neptune
Boulevard, where transportation by bus will be provided.
If you are unable to evacuate by yourself, or can’t get to the high
school yourself, you should call the Township for assistance at
732-988-5200, extensions 230, 231, 234, 235 or 236, to arrange for
transportation. Bascom said, however, that once the hurricane has struck
the Township cannot provide emergency services. “Sunday is really the
day to get out of here,” he said. After the storm has hit, people will
be on their own, if they choose to stay, until the storm subsides to the
point where it is again safe for emergency vehicles to move about.
The 9-1-1 phone lines should be used only for true emergencies,
because the Township does not want those lines to become overloaded. Any
call other than a genuine emergency should go to the 988-5200 number.
Monmouth County will run a pet shelter during the storm. To get to
that, one must come to the transportation center at the high school.
Bring a cage, food and everything else a pet will need. Owners will
probably have to stay with their pets for the duration.
Although Township offices will be closed Monday and Tuesday, Township
employees will be working on those days, manning phones and doing other
emergency work.
In Ocean Grove, St. Francis Asbury was moving its 100 or so residents out of town on Sunday.
Area dialysis centers were working to get their patients in on
Sunday, in advance of the storm, because they will be closed on Monday
and Tuesday.
Officials are warning residents to stay away from downed trees and
power lines during the storm. They will be trying to mark such hazards
with yellow tape, but that may not be possible initially.
Bascom said the Red Cross resources will be somewhat strained during
this emergency, because all of the Red Cross operations in surrounding
states will also be in the storm’s path and therefore unable to lend
their resources.
For our previous story on Hurricane Sandy,
go here.
Cuttrell explains about anticipated record tides.
