Maybe the media could pull a few reporters off Kardashigan watch & update me & others who are curious how things are progressing.
The governor said yesterday that he expects some of the shore to open by July 4th but not all. He said parts of each town should be open, but not all homes, businesses, amusements etc. He wasn't specific to LBI but just the "shore" in general.
Are you on facebook? There are alot of pages specific to shore towns that update the public:
A few that my friends subscribe to for LBI are, LBI source and My LBI Life
Not great. Cleanup is still going on! months later. They keep saying parts of the shore(think Jenkinson's ect) are going to be open this summer. I am not convinced on LBI- They are trying though. Money is the problem. I have heard of ridiculous FEMA settlements. ($7000 for a guy that lost his house and his business, what is that going to do?)
WHAT? Where have you heard this? on the internet?
anyway, I live year round on LBI ( in Ship Bottom ) to answer your question, Barnegat Light is 100% fine. It is the highest and widest town on the island & suffered almost NO damage up there. Everything is open up there, in fact everything from Surf City north is open b/c they had almost NO water damage ( only lots and lots of sand!)
check out lbiisalive.com, lbi source on facebook, lbi is open on fb....
The island will be pretty much back open this summer, with a few businesses not being able to re open ( but they weren't doing that well to begin with before Sandy...) I own a business, am heavily involved with the revitalization of the island businesses & grass route info on getting the word out that we're a-ok! We've all been rolling our eyes at the bad press lately about LBI but this is all about attracting people to other shore area towns, getting them to try something other than LBI.
And to add a GOOD story about insurance, I got my claim from flood already ( we had 32" of water in my garage but not my home as we're elevated) we had no issues b/c we READ our policy and knew what was & was not covered. The home owners who thought their 100k landscaping, outdoor kitchens, pools, hot tubs etc etc would be covered obviously did not read their policy. We also have experienced storms before, KNEW it would be a flood event so we prepared well in advance ( as well as stayed ) and moved cars off island, put things up over 5' and did not expect not much damage....
anyway, YES LBI is open come on down this summer!
Can anyone tell me how LBI is recently? We stay every year in Barnegat Light and I was wondering how the island and businesses are doing. We love it there!
Facebook has been great for LBI updates--through the storm and now. I was able to give LBIJim links that he did not have through these FB sources. I think they were very helpful!
Holgate is still pretty devastated. I drove down last weekend and there's still sand on some sections of the Boulevard. Some homes are partially collapsed, others are sitting at cockeyed angles on their lots, and a few floated off their foundations and hit the neighbor's house. The trailer park is in shambles. The damage to the beachfront homes is very inconsistent. 4 or 5 in a row look relatively undamaged, then 4 or 5 in a row are sitting 15 to 20 feet high on their pilings like an absurd flamingo. Then another row of homes in decent condition, etc. The boulevard will need to be resurfaced: many potholes and other rough areas. I doubt this section of LBI will be rebuilt before summer.
I'm in Beach Haven, bayside. The southern part near Holgate has some major damage, but not nearly as much as Holgate. The beachfront pavilions at Pearl Street and 5th Street were washed away. Some homes were damaged beyond repair and still need to be torn down. But nearly everything else has been at least cleaned up. There's a lot of repair/remodeling/reconstruction going on.
The Beach Haven Boro Hall is closed and the town is conducting its business in part of the Coast Guard building. I see 3 or 4 of those "extra classroom" type of trailers in front of the Ship Bottom boro hall and I'm guessing it was badly damaged as well.
The Beach Haven elementary school hasn't reopened. Its students are going to the Eagleswood Township school on the mainland. Actually I don't think it should reopen at all. There's only like 60 students for K-6. And I heard that only about 50 are going to Eagleswood; the rest relocated elsewhere. Someone said the 5th grade has only 2 students. They should just dissolve the district and join the main LBI district.
The Chamber of Commerce and other sources are saying LBI is open for business, but in reality only 25% of the businesses are open year round anyway. Of the 25% that are year round, I'd say about 2/3 of them have reopened. Others should within the next few months. The three supermarkets are still closed, and I think only one gas station is open. But I'm confident that 95%+ of LBI will be restored and open for summer.
For those who may understand, you KNOW things aren't back to normal when the two Wawas remain closed!!!
Brenda, Buckalew's restaurant has reopened!!!
Jim
And to add a GOOD story about insurance, I got my claim from flood already ( we had 32" of water in my garage but not my home as we're elevated) we had no issues b/c we READ our policy and knew what was & was not covered. The home owners who thought their 100k landscaping, outdoor kitchens, pools, hot tubs etc etc would be covered obviously did not read their policy. We also have experienced storms before, KNEW it would be a flood event so we prepared well in advance ( as well as stayed ) and moved cars off island, put things up over 5' and did not expect not much damage....
anyway, YES LBI is open come on down this summer!
also wanted to mention that 2 weeks ago, when it was in the 60's in NJ I spent a lot of time on my beach picking up drift wood, shells, sea glass, sand dollars...My beach actually got BIGGER from superstorm sandy - a result of the southerly flow of the tides & bringing in sand from the northern part of the island. Everything is pretty much cleaned up from the front of peoples houses, Dec 21 was the last day for homeowners to put out at the street & it's all off the island now. Anyone who waited has to put into a dumpster now.
Holgate got the brunt of the damage. It is pretty narrow and low elevation. Beach Haven was next, then the township. If you are in a wide part of the island, you seemed to be ok. Narrow, not so much. I live in a pretty wide part of Ship Bottom We still saw 4' of water in my neighborhood. The last significant storm to bring water to the island was the Dec 1992 nor'easter, which was our benchmark to prep for sandy ( where there was 2' of water in my neighborhood) When we re did my home in 2006, we made sure to elevate as high as we could go b/c we've been through floods before & will again. With the new flood maps I'm still above grade. Our neighbors to the east of us spent $300,000 2 years ago to completely remodel their house. They did not elevate ( and did it little by little so they did not have to elevate w/ the 50% law ) anyway the entire 1st floor is a loss. They are fixing again and guess what - NOT elevating again......There are SO many stories like this I can;t even start.