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Ocean Grove boardwalk. Oct. 30, 2012.  8:00 am. Paul Goldfinger photo  ©  Click to enlarge.

Great Auditorium roof was damaged, fore and aft. It still awaits a permanent fix. Oct. 30, 2012. Paul Goldfinger photo ©

Sandy Ocean Grove. by Bob Bowné. October 30, 2012 ©

What do you remember?  My  house shook, but had no significant  damage or flooding.  I recall the sights when we went down to the beachfront on the morning of October 30, 2012.  People hesitatingly came down to see.  We had seen the horrible images of places like Mantoloking on television, so we knew that we were lucky—lucky to not live on a barrier island.

Ocean Grove has some low areas, such as the southeast precinct  where flooding occured, but much of the rest of the town had enough elevation to avoid water damage.  A couple of days later a solitary surf fisherman came from out of town just to fish in Ocean Grove, a place that he loved.

Now, most of our boardwalk is complete except for the North End and the pier.  We are better prepared now with dunes and bulkheads.  The boardwalk was specially engineered to be extra strong.  Many homeless victims who needed a place to stay came to the Grove. Some of them remained for quite a while, and there are probably some who are still around town.  We cannot ever forget the volunteers who showed up, often with everything they needed including food  and they gave and they asked for nothing in return.

Link to Bob Bowne´s iconic photograph of Sandy:

Bowné link on Blogfinger

Loudon Wainwright III.   “Carrickfergus”.  From Boardwalk Empire.

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