Screenshot from JOH. Fishing clubhouse disappears into the deluge.
1992 nor’easter along the east coast. National Weather Service depiction.
JOH of Ocean Grove sent us a video link showing the fishing pier coming down during the 1992 nor’easter—-see below:
It is good to remember important events in our town’s history, because we all can learn from history and it gives us the opportunity to talk about the OG fishing pier (currently the non-fishing pier as its remnant remains land bound on the OG beach. See comments linked below) —–Paul Goldfinger, editor @Blogfinger December, 2015.
News story from Newswork:
An intense nor’easter struck New Jersey 23 years ago today, generating some of the worst damage since the Ash Wednesday storm of 1962
Dubbed “The Great Nor’easter” by the National Weather Service, the storm, which forced the evacuation in at least 20 Jersey Shore municipalities, destroyed sections of the Bradley Beach and Belmar boardwalks and swept away a significant chunk of the Ocean Grove fishing pier, according to a New York Times report.
As the storm surge peaked and wind gusts increased during the morning hours, small private boats were called to rescue some from houses along the Manasquan River, as drawbridges ceased to function due to power outages and Coast Guard boats could not access the area, the report said.
According to the report, some residents in low-lying areas in Monmouth, Ocean, and Atlantic counties were evacuated by police boats and National Guard trucks.
The National Weather Service found that the storm “resulted in unprecedented flooding and coastal erosion, which may have permanently changed the coastline.”
The flooding lasted for days. The National Weather Service report stated that the hardest hit coastal areas included Union Beach, Atlantic Highlands, Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Sea Girt, Long Beach Island, and Longport.
“As a result of the full moon on December 9 and an unusually long storm duration that affected several tide cycles, the resulting tide caused the most severe flooding along the New Jersey coast in nearly 30 years,” a U.S. Geological Survey study found.
In Union Beach, 300 cars were destroyed by sea water and 690 houses were damaged, according to the National Weather Service report.
The highest wind gusts of the storm was recorded in Cape May, peaking at 80 miles per hour. The storm killed two in New Jersey, damaged 3,200 homes, and caused $750 million (1992 dollars) in damage.
Portions of the state were declared a federal disaster area.
SURVIVOR “The Eye of the Tiger.”
Engineers pronounced it safe for the public.
I am amazed that the CMA allows people to go on the structure. It is fit only for Ralph.
Perhaps a proposal could be made to FEMA that included a new structure on the end of the new pier that was INCLUSIVE instead of exclusive. If the entire pier were open to everyone it would have funding. Then again, there’s no need for a fishing shack with a cyclone fence to be constructed on the new pier. Include everyone!
After Sandy, the OGCMA with Neptune Township, finally convinced FEMA that our boardwalk, although privately owned, was essentially a public thoroughfare. Eventually FEMA bought that argument, but we don’t know what went on behind the scenes.
The CMA thought that FEMA would also pay for the pier repairs, but eventually FEMA refused to pay for the pier, and the CMA decided to forget about pressing FEMA about that issue.
So the pier reconstruction has to be a private project, and the CMA says that it will rebuild the pier after other priorities are dealt with, such as the GA roof and the Thornley Chapel. But they don’t mention the Fishing Club.
Maybe the Fishing Club is a problem because it is a private organization that might, as before, exclude the public from the end of the pier, and that might bring on some embarrasing challenges on behalf of the public.
The CMA has always been a secretive organization—witness the lack of transparency at the North End. So don’t be surprised if they don’t answer Fisherman’s request for a “plan.”
And speaking of that Fishing Pier, a little history: The OG Fishing Club sank way over $50,000.00 into public and private pier repairs in the summer of ’92, only to see the entire pier totally destroyed in this winter storm. They lost the ’93 season entirely, but had the Youth Fishing Club casting from the South End beach that summer anyway.
During the Winter of 92-93, the pier was totally reconstructed, not just to ’92 levels, but rebuilt back to it’s original historic 500 feet, something that hadn’t been seen since the ’68 storm. The Fishing Club financed all of this ON THEIR OWN with a Small Business Administration loan.
Contrast this record of accomplishment with the total lack of cooperation and transparency from the OGCMA since the last storm. The Fishing Club has volunteered to do this all again, and on their own dime, yet again. The CMA has refused, without giving a reason why. So, three years out, I’ll ask: What’s the OGCMA’s plan?
They’re not saying. If there is a plan (is there?), it’s nobody’s business. Say what you will about lack of access to the very end of the pier. Pre-storm, 90% was accessible to everyone, and didn’t cost any of us a dime. We’ve gone way, way far downhill this time around.
This poor, permanent, obviously half-pier is an ongoing insult to the OG community and is a loss to us all.