The Ocean Grove pier. Photo by Paul Goldfinger
UPDATE, 11:30 p.m. Wednesday — The Neptune Township website has posted an item about how to apply for FEMA assistance. If you’ve suffered storm damage, click here and then scroll down to “FEMA ASSISTANCE.”
UPDATE, 10:30 p.m. Wednesday — All Neptune Township schools will be closed Thursday and Friday. All special school programs and activities have been cancelled or postponed. Before and After Care will not be available. And the Aquatic Center will be closed. Source: Neptune School District website.
UPDATE, 6:45 p.m. Wednesday — USA Today said this about our local power blackout: “An estimated 90 percent of residents in Monmouth and Ocean counties were without power, and it will be days if not weeks before the lights come back on.” The Asbury Park Press, based on company sources, reported on its website just minutes ago that JCP&L has restored power to about 160,000 customers throughout its service area but that about 940,000 are still in the dark. “The majority will be restored within the next seven days,” says the APP, but “Customers in the hardest-hit areas will take an additional seven days on top of that.” The Newark Star-Ledger quoted President Obama as saying the “top priority” in New Jersey is getting the power back on.
UPDATE, 5:10 p.m. Wednesday — Neptune Mayor Randy Bishop announced today that a township-wide curfew is in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. “for all residents until further notice.” The announcement appears on the Township’s website. We’re pretty sure he meant from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The website also reports this with regard to the power blackout: “JCP&L has advised that it will be 10 to 15 days for power restoration.” The website adds that power has started to come back in some areas, particularly West Neptune. However, it says, “this may re-energize downed wires so continue to use extreme caution.”
And finally, Governor Chris Christie has directed that Halloween celebration be rescheduled from tonight to Monday, November 5 throughout New Jersey.
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By Paul Goldfinger, Mary Walton and Charles Layton
Hardly any businesses were open in the Neptune area on Wednesday due to lack of power.
This included gas stations, because the pumps don’t work without electricity.
People are growing desperate to recharge their phones and other devices, but there are very few places to do that. Because of the demand, Wegmans was allowing each person 30 minutes access to their outlets — to recharge, to email and to grab some quick news on the Internet. Some people brought power strips so they could charge all their devices at once.
In Ocean Grove, basements on Broadway are flooded two to four feet deep. Sawbucks Construction was helping people pump out the water on Wednesday morning. The flooding is particularly hard on people who live in basement apartments.
Residents in that stricken neighborhood are pitching in to help one another. One woman with a gas-powered fireplace has invited people to come in and warm up. The temperature fell into the mid-40s overnight.
It remains unclear how long the power blackout may last, but news reports and power company spokesmen do not seem optimistic. Some are saying the power could still be out over large areas by next week’s election. It was not immediately clear how the election could be conducted without electricity.
“This storm may never be duplicated in our lifetime,” Deputy Mayor Eric Houghtaling told Blogfinger in an email late Tuesday night. “The Township was well prepared and will continue nonstop until cleanup is complete.”
Houghtaling and other officials held a meeting Tuesday night at the Midtown Community School, which has been used as Neptune’s emergency operations center. He said fire safety is a major concern. The hundreds of downed trees on the western side of the Township are also a large problem.
Houghtaling said the damage in low-lying parts of Shark River Hills “is unbelievable. High tide 13 feet 2 inches above normal high tide. It has never happened before.” Committeewoman Mary Beth Jahn said the storm had lifted boats into people’s yards.
Transportation is another problem. New Jersey Transit is down for an indefinite period. AMTRAK has resumed limited service to Newark but not to New York City because of the flooded tnnnels. Nearly all bus service in New Jersey was suspended. EZ-Pass is working, but car travel is said to be problematic in some areas, in part due to lack of gasoline. Those few gas stations that were open Wednesday reportedly had enormous lines of cars.
Home Depot is one of the few stores, other than Wegmans, that was open in our area on Wednesday morning. The Township said Foodtown in Ocean Township was also open. These large stores are operating on generator power, something not possible for most smaller businesses.
One sign of a return to normalcy: the Township says it will resume regular garbage pickup on Thursday.
To read our Tuesday story on Hurricane Sandy, which includes an assessment of the major damage in Ocean Grove, click here.
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Let’s cheer ourselves up with some music. Here is The Band:
Would you have information on where we could send financial donations for the clean-up?
Is there water in Ocean Grove? My parents were evacuated from 65 Broadway (Pilgrim Pathway). Can we get to that part of Broadway to check the house? Thanks for all your posts! I am checking your site from Chicago and sending updates to my family!
Karen — Yes, there is water. And you can drive around OG, including to Broadway.
Question, do you know if there are any Volunteer efforts being coordinated this weekend? I live in Bergen county but will be down at my Ocean Grove condo over the weekend, and I will be very happy to help with any cleanup efforts. I was wondering if you might suggest whom I can write to to find out if they need any help.
Just a quick note to say thank you for all that you doing. We have a second home in OG (89 Embury), and your website is the only source of information for us and our friends who also have second homes in the Grove. I have been trying to reach our neighbors (Rich and Ruth Beltle, Gary Huizenga), but unsuccessfully so far: it appears phone service on the shore, whether landline or cellular, is also very spotty. My wife and I take comfort, however, in your comments that there are no injuries, so unless advised otherwise, we will assume our neighbors are okay health-wise.
As you can imagine, I would love to know how our house fared, but those of us with second homes in OG who also live in NJ (we live in Montclair, 80% of which has lost power) face a conundrum: gas supplies here are starting to dwindle. I just came back from the only gas station around here with power, and the station has sold out of all gas except Super, and I expect that will be gone today. Furthermore, they expected a gas delivery this past Sunday, but it has not yet arrived. Put another way, it’s not the expense but the possible lack of availability of fuel that stays my anxiety.
The local Starbucks is closed, so I can’t go there. With no train, bus, or subway service, I can’t go to the city. My office in NY is in Zone A and also has no power. It is all very strange….
Stay well, stay safe, and thank you again.
Finally, I found something about Ocean Grove on the internet! I’ve been looking for days, wondering if (or how much) of the Grove was still with us. We’ve been renting the same place for the last 21 years on Heck Avenue and are very close to the community. Very happy to hear that Ocean Grove was spared much of the damage that other shore towns experienced. Thanks for the news
I want to thank you with all my heart for this blog!!! I had been scouring the internet for days trying to find info about OG when, with great relief, I stumbled upon your site! I was a resident of OG for one year, 25 years ago, when my husband was a surgery resident at Monmouth Medical Center. I LOVE OCEAN GROVE and have the most wonderful memories of living there. I met my very best, lifelong friend that year, Cheryl Jean Benfer. She and her family still live there and I have been so concerned about them and their welfare. Though I have not heard from them, I read on your blog that their were no fatalities in your area, so I am comforted.
Your writing is excellent and detailed! Great journalism and photography!!! God bless you and all of Ocean Grove! You are in our prayers!
Thanks for keeping us up to date on the situation in ocean Grove. I am not a resident, but the grove has always been a special place, the scene of many wonderful childhood, teen and adult memories.. I am sorry to see pics of the destruction along the beach, but relieved to hear that much of the town has been spared. Good luck to all of you, and thanks again for being the source of so much good information!
Thank you, thank you for all that you are doing to help us learn more about the conditions in Ocean Grove. Especially noting that there are not many injuries — comforting while we wait to hear from my dad’s sister, a long-time Ocean Grover.
Just have to echo all the thanks for keeping the blog going. My mom had to evacuate and I live many states away. I’ve been able to help keep her informed by telling about the the blog. She’s headed back now and nervous, but much less so because of your reports. Thanks so much for keeping them up.
Thanks for your great reporting and pictures. Mom and I are regular guests at the Shawmont, and she’s been an OG visitor since the early 60s (maybe longer). We’re saddened to see all the damage, but glad that no one there has been hurt. Prayers for you all!
As summer folks we really have grown to rely on your postings for any knowlege of our neighbors well being and that OG survived yet another catastrophic event. Without the ability to contact any of our “shore family” due to the situation there,you have become the only resource we have for information. Our thanks for all that you have done to keep us informed and assured that all is going as well as can be expected.
My mother and I are regular guests at the Shawmont; she’s been a summer visitor since the early 1960s. We are glad that there are few if any injuries, although distressed to see the damage.
Thank you so much for all that you are doing. We visit the area a lot and have such a fondness for it and the town’s people. I will keep checking to see how you are all doing.
Thank you for all the info provided. I hope you realize how many of us that love OG out here are reading this.
Paul I am one of many with flooded basements. Besides Sawbucks, are there other contractors pumping people out? Will the OGFD be helping? Maybe you could publish a list with contact numbers. We can call to get pumped out.
Thank you very much for the updates on OG – my wife and have a second home in town and have been worried from afar. I am going to try to make it down after work this afternoon from North Jersey to check on the house. Does anyone know the traffic conditions after exiting the GSP? Better to get off Exit 100 or 105 and take 18 south? Thank you very much.
please keep posting pictures, giving updates and letting us all know about when and if volunteers are needed for anything. as soon as gas stations open and we are able to get down, we will do anything we can to help. in the meantime, your pictures have given us such peace of mind. the news is covering a lot of the shore towns, but we haven’t seen much on OG at all. I actually saw my street in your photos so I am able to have some comfort knowing the extent of damage is minimal. we will get OG back to the way it was before this terrible storm. it may be broken up, but its heart is stronger than ever!
Thank you for the pictures! Looks like the damage, while extensive, is reparable. Even part of the fishing pier is still up! I love Ocean Grove, prayed for the Town & you folks. I will continue to do so. Lord bless you! May he provide for you in the coming days!
Thank you so so much for all your posts! It will be very helpful for advice on which way to get into the Grove driving south on GSP and if you can help with a list besides Sawbucks of anyone who can help with pumping out of those who need.
No one has mentioned the tents. Do you know anything about their condition?
I like others am so happy to find your blog. Have been coming to 23 Ocean Ave. for over forty years, 2 weeks every summer. I just sit and cry when viewing this horrible devastation. Any thing on The Windamer and the south end?
89 Embury looks fine
I’m also from Montclair
Tremont place
Will try to take a picture
Susan
Thanks to all who are involved in this blog. We recently purchased a condo in OG as a refuge from NYC. We have read every word and viewed each photo with great interest. Our thoughts go out to everyone.
Karen from Chicago, George & I went down yesterday, house fine from outside, no broken windows. Let your mom & dad know. Going down again Saturday.
I heard through their Facebook page that the residents of the Francis Asbury Manor will be moving back tomorrow (11/1) after having evacuated to sister property in Butler, NJ. They have a gas generator there which I guess they will continue to use until power comes back in the Grove.
A friend of mine stayed in Ocean Grove through the storm and I can’t find anyone who has heard from her. Any recommendations or information on people at shelters etc? All I know is that her place was two stories and two blocks away from the beach. Stay sa
Susan: thank you very much!
Thanks for your excellent coverage and pictures, before, during, and after the storm. My family have been long time Ocean Grovers’ and my Uncle Dick Goewey, lives on Webb year round, so your reports kept us informed. Ocean Grover is a strong community and we will recover. My daughters Chrissy and Tori are already talking about running fund raisers here to help get things rebuilt.
I just watched the Southern California Edison power crew convoy leave for NJ to help get the power back on.
Take Care
Paul Haase Family Huntington beach CA
I just wanted to say thank you for the information and pictures. I found your blog last year during Irene and have come back occasionally since. I’ve been watching it closely for the last few days with Sandy, as it is the only place with specific news of Ocean Grove.
OG is very close to my heart as first my great-aunt and then my grandparents lived at 133 Heck Avenue near the fire station through the late 1970s. A long visit to the Grove was a part of every summer growing up. So many memories!
My thoughts and prayers are with you all as you clean up and rebuild.
I want to thank you for the reports from OG. We rent an apartment on the 4th floor of the St. Elmo on Main. We were there on Friday and Saturday to remove outdoor furniture and left on Sunday morning. So we are reading everything you write and are grateful for the pictures, although depressing and sad. We will not return until Saturday…to empty our refrigerator and survey for ourselves.
Thanks for this blog and please do know what a service you are doing for readers like us.
I appreciate the hurricane updates you are providing on your blog, as I’m way out in California but worried about a friend there. The devastation is just incredible. I am very worried about my friend who lives in Shark River Hills (on Benton Place). Monday night was the last time I heard from her.
Take care, and you’re all in our hearts and prayers.
Thank you so much for the updates on Ocean Grove. I’m so glad that you’ve been able to continuing posting so I know what’s happening. I have to older parents 75 and 74 that live on your street, 84 A & B Mt Hermon Way, that I haven’t been able to get in contact with. You might even know my Mom as she has lived there for 10 years.
Could someone possibly check on them? I last spoke to my Mom, Sue Pettit, on the eve of the storm right after they lost power. My father Beau Pettit is downstairs with a caregiver, Bill. My father is rather disabled and I’m concerned for both of them. We don’t have anyone to check on them and I live in Wisconsin, my brother is in Florida. All the airports are shut down and before I panic and get on a plane (which you can tell I am a bit panicked since I’m asking for your help) and start a very long travel process I’d like to know if they are OK. I know you posted 8-15 days without power which is very bad for everyone and worse because my father takes insulin that needs to be refrigerated. Coupled with the cold, no way to make food, and everything else I need to decide if I should come get them and bring them back here.
Any news on the drinking water supply in Ocean Grove, I wonder? Great blog, thank you.
Hi – so glad I found this blog! I started thinking about the Homestead restaurant where I worked the summer of ’63. I had been back since and knew it wasn’t the Homestead anymore, but in searching Google, I found your listing. Sorry to see that part of the building has fallen in the storm. I have very fond memories of OG. My grandparents used to visit every summer and stay with Mrs. Linda Clare in her boarding house. I can’t remember what street it was on, but it was one of those grand Victorians very close to the back of the Auditorium. In the summer we could hear the music from the Auditorium. We would make day trips from Philadelphia to see my grandparents. I even remember hearing Billy Graham in the Auditorium. Of course, OG was the only place my mother would allow me to work away from home. She felt it was very safe in those days. I stayed at Mrs. Clare’s and had a wonderful time that summer – a whole summer at the Jersey Shore without parents!
Now that I have found you I am keeping up with your storm reports, but I will also continue visiting to keep up on OG news.
Angelique — Rest easy. People on your parents’ block have told me that they are fine. There is no two-way communication. The insulin situation is under control. A neighbor is looking out for them.
Blogfinger comes through again — keeping us all up to date as you (they) did during the monster snowstorms. Thank you so much. Know that all of your summer friends are thinking of and praying for you all. We’ll be there to help raise the funds needed to rebuild and repair the damage in the Grove. And to your other readers, please remember to give to the American Red Cross, if you can — they really come through and I’m counting on them to help the people of NJ!
SHAWMONT HOTEL: Received a mailing from a staff member that the hotel made out OK. Many of the Hotels, Inns, & Homes along Ocean Avenue are not at street level, as you need to take steps to get up to the porch or front door to go in, so that may of saved a bit of damage to the properties.
Does anyone know if flooding from Fletcher extended to Stockton and, if so, which blocks? Evacuated and can’t get back or get any word.
To those who are following this blog from areas outside the Jersey Shore — as you can imagine cell phone service is not available. I drove down today and I was able to receive inbound text messages and emails on my iPhone in some spots but I couldn’t send any messages. As bad as things look in Ocean Grove, it could have been much worse. We are really blessed. We had some flooding in our crawl space that may have destroyed our heating system but we won’t know for certain until the power returns.
Someone earlier asked about 73 Webb — it looks fine from the exterior. The first block of Clark had flooding. As did the first two blocks of Inskip and select houses on the 3rd block of Stockton. The gazebo that divides Bradley Beach and Ocean Grove on the boardwalk is now on the opposite side of Fletcher Lake in one piece but on its side. Hopefully, it can be saved and returned to its original spot! Pieces of that awesome kids playground on the beach in Avon are now on the front lawns of neighbors two blocks inland.
Most shops were closed (obviously) but Barbaric Bean was “open,” and as always, created a sense of community by offering coffee, a pastry and a place for neighbors to swap stories.
I took some photos on my camera and will submit them to tomorrow.
One suggestion to those who plan to visit the shore — fill up your gas tank! 1. There are very few gas stations open. 2. The ones that are open had very very long lines. People ran out of gas waiting for gas.
And to all of our neighbors in Ocean Grove and throughout the Jersey shore. Stay resilient. Stay Jersey Strong.
So glad to have found this wonderful blog. I have a 2nd home at 76 Abbott and if anyone passes by, just wanted to know how the block fared. I haven’t been able to contact my neighbors and hope they are all fine.
We live on Cookman between New Jersey and Delaware on the south side. We had no water in the basement and there was no water in the street during the surge.
Thank you for posting the photos and updates. How wonderful that all are pitching in the help one another. Wegmans, Sawbucks and the woman with the fireplace are doing wonderful work. God bless you for inviting others in to keep warm. Very sad that the fishing pier house is gone. Hopefully all will find grace to move through this with a spirit of trust in God. There is a wonderful statue on Main Avenue of the Blessed Mother; I hope she is still intact and offering refuge for those in despair. Take comfort, be safe and thanks for your outreach with this wonderful blog.
Your blog has been a window into the OG world that ‘Sandy’ has left behind. My dear friend from OG, who was huddled in another northern NJ city at the time of the storm, has a business and home in OG – w/no access to electricity, and just his cell phone, he had no idea what had happened to the area. I live in Oregon and, via texts, I shared with him what I learned from your blog. He was hoping to get back in to OG today to see what the status was. I haven’t heard from him today but my hope, and my hope for all of you, is that although ‘stuff’ may be ruined, your LIVES are not lost. God Bless you.
First of all…a major thanks to Blogfinger for all of the terrific photos and info, and for providing a priceless outlet for folks to comment and help each other out. You have been a lifeline every day this week. Sheila and I made it down to OG today to our home by Bradley Beach footbridge. We had hopes of being OK until we saw the water line on our house exterior…the surge or high tide and Fletcher Lake flooding on Monday night obviously came quick, high and fast. We had dune grass on top of our bushes and AC unit…a few fish on the lawn…and a water line on our baseboards of 2 inches…just a few inches too much! Oh well, we weren’t fond of that carpet anyway! But we also saw neighbors who had flooded basements and ruined furniture…what looked like pier pilings on the streets near by. Our hearts go out to all of them! It was great to see neighbors helping neighbors. What a great town we have! We will all get by this…and let’s thank God in this coming month of Thanksgiving that He protected us and our town as much as He did!