SEA BRIGHT — A week after being evacuated, Sea Bright residents were escorted back into town briefly on Nov. 5 and 6 to retrieve personal belongings, and local officials vowed the borough would recover from the devastation wrought by the Oct. 29 hurricane.
“Sea Bright has not been wiped off the map,” Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R- 13th District) said in an interview on Nov. 6.
“Everybody should rest assured that the heart of Sea Bright is beating strong and it’s going to come back.”
O’Scanlon explained that the town was cordoned off due to gas leaks caused by buildings shifting on foundations and creating hazardous conditions.
“They are not going out of their way to inconvenience people; it’s a real safety issue,” he said.
“They are moving as fast as they can to secure all that to get people back in there.”
Initially, the entire gas distribution system was considered to be a total loss, but O’Scanlon said crews have been able to section off areas and will salvage what they can.
“It’s my understanding they are doing inspections so that by Friday or Monday they will be done with inspections and can let people back in,” he said.
One of the hardest-hit coastal towns, the borough sustained significant flooding after the record-high storm surge breached two areas of the seawall, leaving behind approximately 6 feet of sand throughout the borough.
“You can imagine it as a snowstorm of sand, a 6-foot snowstorm of sand,” he said.
Virtually all the borough’s businesses have sustained damage, much of it substantial, he said, and the beach clubs, except for Surfrider Beach Club, could be a complete loss, he said.
The municipal building and the firehouse on Ocean Avenue are still standing and operational, he added.
O’Scanlon said some houses in North Beach and South Beach sustained flood damage and some have shifted from foundations, but many are still intact.
In a coordinated effort with the Borough Council, emergency responders and crews from the N.J. Department of Transportation, cleanup is moving forward, with many of the streets cleared and passable, and gas crews working to cap lines, he said.
“They are making a lot of progress. It’s slow but progress is being made.”
Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long provided residents information about the town and an opportunity to ask questions during a meeting held on the football field of Shore Regional High School on Nov. 5.
In a video of the meeting posted on the Sea Bright website, www.seabrightnj.org, Long reassures residents that their belongings are safe due to increased patrols.
Local police, officers from the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, Prosecutor’s
Office and corrections officers have been on continuous patrol, she said.
In addition to the gas leaks, Long informed residents that there was damage to the sewage pumping station, which was another reason residents were not allowed back into their homes.
She also reported that many cars and boats had floated to parts of town and crews were attempting to retrieve and store them in the borough hall parking lot until owners could claim them.
When asked about looting, Long said, “There is no one in town unless they are operating a bulldozer or if they won an election,” drawing laughs from the crowd.
Long choked with emotion as she spoke about a piece of debris that washed up behind borough hall.
Calling it a symbol, she raised up what was left of the Donovan’s Reef sign: DO.
“‘DO’ is what we are going to do. We are going to rebuild our town sustainably for the future, a better Sea Bright than what you saw before,” she said, her voice rising.
“Sea Bright is not gone. Sea Bright is its people. Sea Bright is you. As long as we are here, supporting each other, we will get through this. We will DO.”