The Jersey Shore: After Hurricane Sandy (12/6/2012)

In late October 2012, Hurricane Sandy decimated the Jersey Shore, some areas more than others, and left a path of destruction up and down eastern seaboard.  The hardest hit areas were from Point Pleasant south to Seaside Heights, with the greatest loss of personal property and homes in the Lavallette, Ortley Beach and Mantaloking areas.

I was finally able to take advantage of some superb flying weather this past Thursday which provided Dad and I with CAVU, meaning Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited.  We began our photo flight near the Keansburg, NJ area and over to Sandy Hook.  From there we flew south along the entire Jersey Shore to Cape May airport where we refueled.  Upon departing, we flew back north along the shoreline to Sandy Hook once again and west past Keansburg towards our home base airport in western New Jersey.

The pictures I shot show much detail with only a handful covering general areas from afar.  From listening to news reports and TV coverage, it was hard for me to gauge just how bad the damage to the shore area really was, short of talking with folks who have actually been down there assessing damage to their own properties.  This is why I needed to see it with my own eyes, and camera lens, then share these stunning yet sad views with all of you.  One thing of interest to note is that the damage gets progressively less the further south you travel, where Sandy's Eye had made landfall near Atlantic City.

I have lived in New Jersey all of my life and enjoyed many day trips to the Jersey Shore while growing up, as well as numerous flights along this pristine length of shoreline.  It's hard to see it in this condition, but at the same time, there are so many beach areas that have already been rebuilt, and this is in only a months time.  A rebuilt and renewed Jersey Shore is coming, though time will tell just how long this will take.

The photos are organized into the following categories and arranged by towns/areas from north to south:  Keansburg, Sandy Hook, Sea Bright to Brielle, Point Pleasant, Lavallette and Mantoloking, Seaside Heights, Island Beach State Park, Long Beach Island, Atlantic City and Margate and finally, Wildwood.


Ok then, let's begin our flight along the ever-changed Jersey Shore...

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 Keansburg

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 Sandy Hook

Work already being done on restoring the beach

Seagull's Nest restaurant within Sandy Hook National Park

Sandy Hook National Park Entrance Plaza / Toll Booths

Route 36 bridge and interchange show no signs of damage

 

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 Sea Bright south to Brielle, in no particular order

Manasquan Inlet

Manasquan

Manasquan

The only thing left of the boardwalk are the supports

Again, only the boardwalk supports are all that remain along nearly the entire Jersey Shore, from Sea Bright to Seaside Heights

Ocean avenue bridge in Avon by the Sea is used as a car traffic barrier

Ocean Grove's boardwalk partially survived

Asbury Park

Asbury Park

Asbury Park

Sea Bright

Sea Bright

Sea Bright

Sea Bright

Lake in Ocean Grove

Rumson road bridge in Sea Bright

Rumson road bridge in Sea Bright

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 Point Pleasant

Jenkinson's Boardwalk

 

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 Mantoloking, Lavallette and Ortley Beach

This area, the Herbert street bridge in Mantoloking, is where the Ocean breached straight through to the Bay.  Note how in only one month's time it has been almost fully repaired, minus the lost homes, of course. 

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The remainder of the photos from this area show the most significant damage to personal property along the entire Jersey Shore, and are difficult to look at without feeling sorry for so many folks who lost so much in such a short period of time...

No, this is not a house boat, but rather some poor souls home afloat, washed off its' foundation by Sandy

Some homes were completely destroyed and practically unrecognizable as a home

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 Seaside Heights

Length of boardwalk, or what's left of where it once stood, between the now destroyed Funtown Pier and the heavily damaged Casino Pier.  The only areas of boardwalk that remain are nestled between the arcade buildings.

Heavily damaged Casino Pier and Coaster sitting in the ocean

Here you can see the Sky Ride that carried passengers along the northern end of the boardwalk.  Of course, as you can clearly see, the boardwalk is no longer there.

Looking closely at all of these Seaside Heights photos you will see that the majority of the boardwalk has been unfortunately demolished by the surf.

Funtown Pier has been completely demolished, with the exception of the Ferris Wheel, Drop Tower and a few other larger rides that must have had their own anchoring systems embedded deep into the sand.  Also note in the left-center of the photo that the rear portion of the building which houses the Carousel is completely destroyed.

An overall view of Seaside Heights (Casino & Funtown piers), looking northeast

Beach rental homes in Seaside Park

Some boardwalk areas in Seaside Park miraculously survived

Nothe the looping coaster as it leans on the destroyed Funtown Pier

What a mess !!!

Can you believe it, NO Boardwalk remains except a few areas between buildings

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 Island Beach State Park

There's not much to show here except how the sand dunes have been eroded into looking like little islands with an ocean-facing cliff

The lifeguard beach area pavilions survived, though much sand removal is needed

A private residence is inundated with sand

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Long Beach Island

Like I mentioned, traveling further south the damage becomes less visible from the air, though I am sure there is evidence of damage on close inspection from the ground.

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 Atlantic City and Margate

No damage to show in Atlantic City, though I still wanted to share a few neat views of the area

This is an area of "artwork" still in progress along the boardwalk

Resorts casino and hotel

Trump Taj Mahal, Showboat and the newest addition to Atlantic City, the Revel Resort

Lucy the Elephant in Margate survived the storm

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Wildwood

And last but certainly not least is Wildwood, which was spared any significant damage from Sandy.  The amusement piers and boardwalk are all in tact as far as one can see from the air

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Thanks for flying along, and let's keep our fingers crossed for a speedy recovery
of our beloved Jersey Shore !!!