By Joseph Ax
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J., Nov 1 (Reuters) – Summer resort towns
along the New Jersey shore by all accounts were devastated by
the massive storm Sandy, but many residents still cannot see the
extent of the damage for themselves.
Under New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s orders,
homeowners who evacuated to higher ground cannot yet return to
much of the hard-hit coastal region. Roads are impassable, power
is out and the possibility of open gas lines poses potential
danger, authorities say.
Chris Delman, 30, said he caught sight of his Seaside
Heights home in a photograph published in a local newspaper but
has been stymied in his attempts to get home.
“We ain’t living in Seaside no more, that’s obvious,” Delman
said. “I just want to know what I have left.”
Sandy came ashore along New Jersey’s coast on Monday
evening.
Some homeowners have waited on the mainland in the town of
Toms River, hoping to cross a bridge onto the barrier islands
that are home to the resort towns of Seaside Heights, made
famous by MTV’s reality TV show “Jersey Shore,” and Lavalette.
They are being turned away, and the bridge is closed to the
public.
“It’s just the unknown that sucks,” said Frank Meszaros, 43,
watching a clean-up crew lift a marooned boat from the road
onto a tow truck. “I hate waiting around for an answer that
isn’t coming.”
President Barack Obama toured the region on Wednesday with
Christie, a big supporter of Republican presidential challenger
Mitt Romney who nevertheless had strong praise for Obama’s
handling of the crisis.
“I cannot thank the president enough for his personal
concern and his compassion,” Christie said.
The pair vowed federal and state support to help reconstruct
the devastated towns.
LIVELIHOODS DESTROYED
Seaside Heights Police Chief Thomas Boyd, a lifelong
resident, said Sandy brought several feet of water across the
width of the island from the sea to the bay after it slammed
ashore on Monday night.
The nearby town of Seaside Park remains underwater, he said,
while a fire in the town of Mantoloking consumed at least 14
houses as firefighters were unable to get close to the blaze.
Bob Stewart, a Seaside Heights volunteer firefighter who
stayed behind to help when Sandy hit, said his business, the
Carousel Arcade, was torn apart by walls of water and vicious
winds that left the town’s seaside boardwalk in shambles.
“I worked all my life, and everything I had is right there,”
said Stewart, 59, as he eyed a pile of debris that once was his
livelihood. “I put my life right there.”
Stewart said he would like to revive the business, but does
not have insurance for its contents. Last year, he reduced his
coverage, reasoning that the building, which he said had been
the oldest in town, was a safe bet.
Nearby at Casino Pier, one of the amusement parks along the
16-block boardwalk, a roller coaster lay partially submerged
offshore, its tracks a maze of twisted metal.
The wooden boardwalk was buckled and swollen, and the beach
littered with shorn electrical wires, slabs of broken concrete
and shattered planks. Farther inland, 5-foot-deep
(1.5-meter-deep) sand drifts have left streets impassable.
To raise money for storm victims, New Jersey natives Jon Bon
Jovi and Bruce Springsteen, one of whose early hits was a song
about the Jersey shore called “4th of July, Asbury Park
(Sandy),” are headlining a Friday benefit concert to be
broadcast on the networks of NBC Universal.
The “Jersey Shore” show’s cast members say they are chipping
in as well.
“Cleaning my closet today to donate clothes and whatever I
can do (for) the victims affected by sandy! I’m comin with
clothes!!!!” wrote cast member Snooki on Twitter.
Snooki, whose real name is Nicole Polizzi, shot to fame on
the reality show for her outrageous behavior and penchant for
tight-fitting animal-print garb.
(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Will Dunham)
