Mayor Dina Long: ‘Sea Bright will rebuild’

 

 

The force of wind and waves was too much for this house.

Sea Bright resident Jyll Jakes looks around her home, not knowing where to start the cleanup. Everything she owns is ruined by water and mud.

sailboats on front lawn

By Patty BoothO’Neill

Sea Bright — Among endless sand dunes, ruined buildings and the continuous  drone of machinery, first responders work tirelessly trying to get Sea Bright back to something that resembles the original town.  Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long told residents who amassed at a meeting on the Shore Regional High School football field on Sunday that Sea Bright will rebuild even though Sandy caused the worst damage recorded in the history of the town.

The sea wall has been breached in two different places and now the compromised town has to worry about the Nor’easter slated to hit the area on Wednesday or Thursday. She also said it will take Sea Bright a long time to rebuild. Since the storm, Sea Bright has been shut off from the rest of the world, a ghost town. Sea Bright is closed to traffic with north and south entrances patrolled by State Police and National Guard, 24/7.

What’s left of former Sea Bright Mayor Jo-Ann Kalaka-Adamss’ house.

People in surrounding towns wondered why they weren’t getting any news about Sea Bright and rumors began to fly. 1. Sea Bright ordered 200 body bags. • Not true 2. They pulled out 22 bodies from the wreckage. • Not true 3. Everyone who spent the night of the storm in Sea Bright died. • Not true 4. There’s six feet of sand in the street and they are finding bodies as they clear it away. • Not true 5. There’s nothing left of Sea Bright, no buildings no sea wall, everything wiped out. • Not true 6. A whole family was washed out to sea. • Not true 7. A car with five kids from Red Bank Regional was washed out to sea. • Not true No one died during the storm, though some did stay in their homes and rode it out, albeit in fear for their lives as giant waves  and debris battered their homes.

Workers trying to get electric back in working order. Power lines and poles all leaning on Ocean Ave.

Those who stayed thought they were safe when they saw how low the first surge of water was. “The water didn’t come up as high as I thought it would,” said one resident. “Then I figured, it wasn’t so bad, I can handle this. But then the second surge came and I thought, this is it, this is the end.” He said there was wind and water and pieces of other buildings being slammed into the side of his house. “I was terrified,” he admitted.  Residents were escorted in on Monday and Tuesday to gather some belongings if their homes were deemed safe enough. So far 56 homes are considered unsafe and those homeowners are not allowed in. The only people allowed into Sea Bright are first responders and those trying to get the town back to working condition.  As you cross the border from Monmouth Beach to Sea Bright there is a stark contrast between the two towns. Although both were hit hard by the storm every street in Monmouth Beach is lined with water-soaked contents of homes. The town is alive with people dragging their belongings to the sidewalk, neighbors checking on each other to see who needs help. Residents wander the streets with tears in their eyes at the sight of friend’s lives sitting on the curb, everything lost in a matter of hours.   The streets in Sea Bright, on the other hand, are clear… eerily so. No garbage or ruined contents of homes on the sidewalks. No people, pets. Nothing.  The streets, which were covered with several feet of sand, are clear, the sand pushed off to the side as if a snow plow had cleared after a blizzard. Three or four street cleaners buzz up and down Ocean Ave., trying to remove the last grains of sand stubbornly clinging to the blacktop. Off to the right bulldozers, backhoes  and dump trucks work endlessly along the beach, which now reaches the sidewalk in wind-swept dunes.  Big machines are scooping, pulling and pushing, though they don’t seem to have any rhyme or reason, the workers know exactly what they’re doing and work with each other with amazing precision. Kiely Construction trucks are parked along the road, their men digging trenches, working on gas lines that have sustained major damage. The Sea Bright Library appears to be intact and so does the firehouse, thought it is said they are structurally unsound. As I stood in the middle of a parking lot a State Trooper trudged by and with a glance in my direction said, “It’s hard,” then put his head down and kept walking. He didn’t need to say more. Businesses are still erect though you can see inside all of them, some right through the other side where the waves punched a hole through the front and out the back.There’s also damage caused by first responders looking for people in the wreckage.  A pile of wreckage sits where Donovans used to be, but owner Bob Phillips has vowed he will rebuild. Across Ocean Avenue, down one of the little side streets that runs to the river, at first glance, houses appear to be untouched. On the left a woman was standing on the sidewalk staring at me, and as I approached her expression didn’t change. When I got close enough, she asks bluntly, “What are you doing here?” I was a little taken aback, not sure how to answer. “I was at the firehouse taking pictures of the barbeque for the first responders.” She accepts my explanation with a nod of her head. “I’m sorry about your house,” I tell her. “I’m sorry about your town.” “I just had my house raised,” she said. Her name was Jyll Jakes, a Sea Bright resident who was allowed back into town as a member of the Sea Bright Fire Department. “I never had water in my house before. I guess I have to raise it higher.” Inside her home the waterline rose up to at least four feet. Floors are covered in mud and there’s still brackish river water in her washing machine. “I thought I’d get maybe and inch or two, but not this.” The water mark on her walls was definitive, as if drawn with a piece of chalk. The same as in every house I went into in Long Branch, Oceanport and Monmouth Beach.  “I’m not supposed to be in here. I keep thinking I’m going to get arrested by Homeland Security, she said She stared around in a daze, then shrugged. “It is what it is.”