A beehive of activity at the transportation/processing center at Neptune High School involves workers from multiple disciplines. Paul Goldfinger photos. Sunday.
By Mary Walton, Blogfinger editor
Neptune’s reception center for Hurricane Sandy evacuees had processed 40 people by 9:30 p.m. Sunday after eight hours of operation. It will close at midnight and reopen at 6 a.m. More are expected Monday as residents begin to experience the full force of the storm.
From the center, people are being transported by bus to shelters at either Monmouth University or the Arthur Brisbane center in Wall. Those in need of transportation to the high school can call the township office at 732-988-5200, extensions 230, 231, 234, 235 or 236. “People who cannot get themselves here, we will pick them up,” said Calvin Morrison of the Neptune Office of Emergency Management. He and Rosemary Gray, director of the Neptune Senior Center, are in charge of the operation.
Gray said that people needing help should arrive with enough clothing, medicine, snacks, toys for children and other items sufficient to last three days. The shelters will supply meals. Pets must arrive with a crate, food and proof of vaccination.
As evacuees trickled in Sunday, they were outnumbered by a swarm of township officials, EMT personnel and forty-eight National Guardsman in crisp camouflage fatigue uniforms, who were on the scene to handle processing and security.
Processing an applicant for the shelter program. Air Force National Guard members from the Little Egg Harbor area are involved.
Operating out of the Neptune High School lobby and gym, the center is using a new web-based system designed to report the location of evacuees at all times by means of a plastic wrist band equipped with a bar code and microchip. During Hurricane Katrina the whereabouts of many people in shelters was unknown.
The system was developed by Radiant RFID, an Austin, Texas, company which signed a five-year contract with the state of New Jersey on September 22 to supply its web-based technology. RFID stands for “Radio Frequency Identification.”
Hurricane Sandy is the first test of the system in New Jersey, and Neptune is one of three centers in Monmouth County where it is being used.
Radiant RFID operates much like package tracking. Data — name, address, date of birth and zip code — are entered into computers by trained personnel, in this case members of the National Guard. The evacuee is then handed the wristband. When boarding a bus or entering a shelter, the wristband is scanned. According to Radiant’s website, “The seamless tracking helps eliminate lines and reduce the number of times evacuees are asked for information.”
Morning has broken. Ocean Grove, Tuesday. Paul Goldfinger. click left for full view
Please share your observations and experiences about the storm here. Note that Grovers have no power, so they will have difficulty seeing us and commenting. — The editors
SEND US AN EMAIL IF YOU HAVE BRIEF ITEMS TO POST HERE (Blogfinger@verizon.net) — PG
TUESDAY ITEMS:
Tuesday, 6:30 a.m. — Belmar’s boardwalk has been destroyed. The Asbury Park Press quotes Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty as saying small portions of the promenade remain intact but that the northern half of the boardwalk sustained severe damage and the southern half is completely destroyed. Debris from the boardwalk is spread out over several blocks, Doherty said, at least as far inland as two blocks from Ocean Avenue.
Evidently things got dramatic in Belmar. Twitter tells of Belmar Water Rescue heroically swimming to people’s homes to rescue them.
MONDAY ITEMS:
Monday, 6:45 a.m. Steady fairly heavy rain with winds of perhaps 30 mph in OG.
Monday, 7:00 a.m. If you are taking pictures, be sure to take some in locations around town other than the beachfront. We want images of different neighborhoods — flooding, damage, trees whatever. We have lots of gigabytes just hanging around waiting to be electrified.
Monday, 7:10 a.m. Shore area: Water coming over sea wall in Sea Bright. Beaches in Manasquan and Spring Lake already covered in water. Parts of Toms River have lost power. (Source: NJ NPR)
Monday, 7:55 a.m. NJ Power and Light has imported 1,200 workers from all over the country on stand-by, but they cannot go to work to restore power until the storm is over.
Mon 10:00 a.m.. We just rode around town. The place seems deserted. The streets are not flooded; not even Broadway. The police would not let us walk onto the boardwalk to take a photo. The officer said that I could try to get permission from “The Chief.”—–I don’t think so. I watch Blue Bloods.
When we got home we were greeted by a patrol car that was driving around saying that there is now a mandatory evacuation for the whole town. But later we received conflicting information that only flood prone areas are to have mandatory evacuation. —-PG
Mon 10:30 a.m. The township website is saying that only certain streets have mandatory evacuation. Go to Township Website link and then click on top for weather and streets to be evacuated. Evidently it is only from Ocean Avenue to Beach that there are mandatory evacuations.
Mon 11 a.m.: “Paul: For the latest update on mandatory evacuations in OG, go to:
Mon 12:45 p.m.: Neptune Office of Emergency Management has sent out a phone message saying that there are “restrictions of travel as of noon.” Note also that you cannot get gas if there is no power. The pumps don’t work.
They also said that if you have questions, you can call 732 988 5200. The call reiterated that mandatory evacuation is only for flood prone areas. It also cautioned that emergency services will be limited once the storm hits with full force later.
Mon. 12:50 p.m. We learned that part of Abbott Avenue lost power this morning for about two hours. Also, all nonessential businesses must close by noon today and stay closed until the restriction is lifted.
Mon. 1 p.m. From Katie Bridge Altieri: “We are showing our support and keeping OG in our thoughts today. Sending our love from Hoboken!- The Altieri Family”
Altieri family loves OG
Monday, 2:30 p.m. Driving and even walking in town now is prohibited (“restricted”). Two walkers came by and said that the police turned them back.
Monday,, 4 p.m. The wind is picking up in a striking manner. In addition to the sound of the wind through the trees, a rumbling noise can be heard in the background.
Monday 4:06 p.m Frank S: .Reporting From Franklin Ave.: “Big tree down and lying across the street on easternmost block of Franklin Ave. Looks like it took down some lines and looks like it may have damaged a car or two. Hard to say exactly as I am a block away and visibility is limited. Tree was on north side of block and fell southward. So far here on Franklin on south side of town we still have power.”
Monday 4:06 p.m. From “Even More Grounded in Reality:” I am in Ocean Grove right now. I wish people would stop encouraging Ocean Grove residents to go outside and take pictures. The winds are extremely high and the chances of being hit by something is very real. By going outside, not only are people at risk but emergency response teams would also be put at risk. I know we all are interested in what is happening, but let’s not make a bad thing worse.
Monday 5:30 p.m. This song is for Annie Albrecht of Ocean Pathway who’s worried about Ocean Grove:
Monday 5:40 p.m. Center of storm should hit us at 6 p.m. The center may hit south of us in Atlantic City.
Monday 5:50 p.m. This song is for Wisher, who’s by himself over by Wesley Lake. We wish you shelter from the storm:
Monday 5;55 pm Mary Walton reports that there are people on the boardwalk now and even on the pier. The police are not there to stop them.
Monday 6 p.m. Inquiry from Prosper: Are there any reports of power outages?
How far is the surf from the boardwalk?
6:08 p.m. From Jason: My understanding is that the storm has just hit the mainland centered on Cape May County. If true, then this is a lot less of a storm than hyped by everyone. I’m certainly not complaining, but it seems like this kind of over-estimation of storms happens every time. This is supposed to be the worst storm in recorded history, but its really no worse than Irene and maybe not even that bad.
6:10 p.m. From Landlover: I’m here in Lawrenceville, NJ, the wind has died down to nothing and it is hardly raining at all. What happened to the storm? Are you all still experiencing “Storm of the Century” conditions?
6:29 p.m. Word is that the storm is moving faster and may outrace the high tide at 8:00 p.m. The surge may be 11 feet; it was 9 feet for Irene. PG
6:50 p.m. Here’s an old fashioned weather report. Stepping out on my second floor porch, I find a light rain, very vigorous winds , no flooding around Firemens Park, nobody driving by, electric is on and the temp is 60 degrees.
7:00 From Concerned Resident: I was at the ocean front and around town at 4:30 p.m. The fishing pier was still in tack and the ocean was just starting to reach the boardwalk.(the ocean was pretty wild but was not going over the boardwalk) There were a few trees down throughtout the town.(firemen’s park area and on the corner of Main and Central by Nagles) Fletcher Lake was completely full but not going over the banks. The good news was that the streets were not flooded just a little pooling.and that includes the Broadway area by the lake..(usually a flood area). Our concerns were the Broadway Drainage problems by the lake.(incomplete project and constuction site debris)but so far no flooding. Good News as of Late Monday afternoon and early evening. Lets hope this continues.
7:05: As of 6:40, about an hour before high tide, Wesley Lake is cresting. The east wind has died down a lot right now, but it is still gusting. Keeping fingers crossed.
7:06 p.m. We have received word from Eileen F. that THE PIER IS GONE. She says, “The landscape of Ocean Grove will change….sad news”. Also, the phones at the Municipal Bldg and the police station are down.
8:15 p.m. A reader, West Neptuner, writes: “I have it from folks close to Ocean Ave that the pier is gone.” (Mayor Randy Bishop also confirms this.)
Deputy Mayor Eric Houghtaling and Deborah Carbone, dietary assistant at the Neptune Senior Center. NHS kitchen. Sunday.
Please share your experiences at this COMMENTS location. Please send us photos to Blogfinger@verizon.net. If you find that your computers don’t work due to loss of power, send us your news, observations, and comments by cell phone email at Blogfinger@verizon.net. Or call a friend who has computer access and have them send us an email or make a comment in your name. We intend to stay connected even if we have to board a cruise ship headed out to sea; or one of those Navy vessels that left Norfolk, Virginia on Saturday to ride out the storm somewhere east of here.
Blogfinger Storm Center. COMMENTS. Tuesday. Part 2
Posted in OCTOBER STORM, tagged Blogfinger Storm Center Comments on October 28, 2012| 43 Comments »
Morning has broken. Ocean Grove, Tuesday. Paul Goldfinger. click left for full view
Please share your observations and experiences about the storm here. Note that Grovers have no power, so they will have difficulty seeing us and commenting. — The editors
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