There aren’t supposed to be houses in the middle of Ocean Avenue in Belmar, but that’s where one was left after Hurricane Sandy passed through. The Casino Pier roller coaster in Seaside is now, in the words of one Twitter user, a water ride.
But humor, however dry, can’t mast the fact that there has been substantial damage to the Jersey Shore, including several towns where Veronans have family homes.
A fire broke out early this morning in Mantoloking, apparently after a gas main exploded there. Firefighters have reportedly been unable to fight the fire because they could not cross the Mantoloking Bridge. The Jersey Shore Hurricane News has a photo of Mantoloking showing a complete breach of that stretch of the barrier island near the bridge.
Video footage from CNN this morning shows boats piled up on the shoreline like so many kids’ toys and water, water everywhere:
More than 250,000 homes are without power in Monmouth County, more than 230,000 in Ocean County and more than 67,000 in Atlantic County as of noon Wednesday.
New Jersey News Commons, a news collaborative created by Baristanet founder Debbie Galant at Montclair State University, has this slideshow of damage. Many of the photos came from postings to Jersey Shore Hurricane News.
