SANDY TWO YEARS LATER

Sandy at two — improvements slow but steady

Todd B. Bates and Russ Zimmer
@ToddBBatesAPP and @russzimmer
Sea Bright before and after Sandy

During superstorm Sandy, Gigi Liaguno-Dorr's Union Beach restaurant washed away. It was a devastating blow, but as the second anniversary of the greatest calamity to hit the Shore arrives this week, the restaurateur discovered, along with many other victims, that time is the best measure for grappling with the full brunt of the tragedy.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: What is life like two years after Sandy? Share your stories with APP journalists at 2 p.m. today.

"It's been two years absolutely of an emotional roller-coaster — so sad, frustrated, happy, content, actually — but I've learned to embrace what has been dealt to me and I tried to walk away with all the positives I can," said Liaguno-Dorr, who owned JakeaBob's Bay, which was destroyed by Sandy. The restaurant reopened in a temporary location, then closed for business reasons. She hopes to rebuild the establishment at its original waterfront location, using more than $2 million in state-approved loans, she said.

Wednesday marks two years since Sandy overwhelmed the state, causing an estimated $30 billion in damage here. Four died at the Shore and tens of thousands were left homeless from days to months. Sandy flooded or otherwise damaged about 82,000 primary residences in New Jersey, and power was out for weeks in some cases.

Highlands resident Loretta Dibble said "the hurricane has changed the town. It's certainly changed my community and I'm sort of sad because I don't know if I'll be able to afford to be in Highlands once I sort out all the different things I'm working on right now."

Sandy's Ghost Towns

Recovery from the epic tempest, by far the state's costliest natural disaster, may take at least several more years. Frustrated and stressed homeowners in New Jersey are slogging through the red tape and face daunting costs to elevate their homes. Communities are trying to shore up coastal defenses and become more resilient in the face of a rising sea and future mega-storms. Many beaches and some dunes have been rebuilt, along with most boardwalks and beachfront infrastructure.

But low-lying areas remain at great risk from powerful nor'easters and hurricanes. These areas include northern Ocean County and much of Long Beach Island, Barnegat Bay shorelines, the Monmouth County Bayshore and any places lacking large dunes and wide beaches, according to experts. Property worth billions of dollars remain in jeopardy.

A Tale of Two Shores

"We may not have another Sandy in a while, but we're going to have repeated flooding," said John A. Miller, a flooding expert with the New Jersey Association for Floodplain Management, a public-private group. "We have very vulnerable areas."

Elevating homes and other structures seems to be the most popular response to Sandy and it's a step in the right direction, said Miller, a water resources engineer at Princeton Hydro LLC, an environmental firm based in Ringoes. But it won't eliminate risk because another storm could overwhelm the best-laid plans.

The $100 billion hurricane?

Chris Sturm, senior director of state policy at New Jersey Future, a nonprofit that promotes responsible land-use policies, said "I think superstorm Sandy was a real wake-up call. I think state government has worked very hard to help people in need who are affected by the storm.

"I think that until we take a longer-term view and look more critically at the risk we face today and in the future and make more structural changes in the location and development of infrastructure, we're not going to be safe," she said.

Voices of Sandy

The Asbury Park Press surveyed hard-hit municipalities in Monmouth and Ocean counties on their recovery efforts and found wide-ranging issues. Some local officials said their towns are well on the road to recovery. Others said the glass is only half full and rehabilitation will take years.

In Union Beach, less than a tenth of the 1,800 homes flooded with at least 2 feet of water during Sandy have been elevated, according to Jennifer Maier, borough administrator.

Three residents recently showed up in her office in tears because of rebuilding issues.

"For us with boots on the ground, the repercussions from Sandy are far from over," she said in an email.

Superstorm Sandy ranks high in disaster report

Tony MacDonald, director of the Urban Coast Institute at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, said Sandy showed that back bay areas and urban areas like Hoboken and Jersey City are uniquely vulnerable.

"I think where we're at is a really heightened awareness of the need to be more vigilant and maybe do things differently," he said.

Superstorm Sandy strikes NJ: an animation

Kenneth G. Miller, a sea level rise expert and professor in Rutgers University's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said many homes that have been elevated since Sandy are not high enough to "truly plan" for future storms.

That's because the sea level is expected to rise about 1.4 feet by 2050, partly because the New Jersey coast is sinking, Miller said. House elevation standards are not strict enough for the long-run, he said.

"We are better prepared, but we're not ready" for the next big storm, he said.

A rundown on the status of various Sandy recovery efforts:

Easements

New Jersey has acquired 2,529 of 2,889 private easements to build beaches and dunes on beachfront properties, according to Larry Hajna, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. Easements allow the Army Corps of Engineers to gain access to properties and build engineered beach and dune systems, maintain them and allow the public to use the beach. Here's a municipal breakdown of easements needed as of Oct. 23:

Bay Head: 123; Berkeley: 8; Brick: 44; Mantoloking: 38; Point Pleasant Beach: 69; Toms River: 16; Seaside Heights: 15; Seaside Park: 2; Allenhurst: 4; Deal: 20; Loch Arbour: 2; Elberon section of Long Branch: 19

Beach and dune projects

Four major projects have been completed in Monmouth County for about $125 million. Projects, by the corps' New York District in cooperation with the state, county and towns, include restoration of ocean beaches in Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach, Long Branch, Asbury Park to Avon, and Belmar to Manasquan. The district also recently repaired and restored the Keansburg and Middletown hurricane and coastal storm risk management project, according to Jenifer Thalhauser, regional project manager for the corps.

  • The corps is finalizing designs for a beach restoration project in the Elberon section of Long Branch through Loch Arbour. Construction was expected to begin in the winter of 2015, according to Thalhauser.

  • A shore protection project in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown is under way, with sand-pumping finished and other work expected to be done by late 2018 or 2019, said David Gentile, corps project manager.

  • Beaches in Harvey Cedars, Surf City and part of the Brant Beach section of Long Beach Township have been restored. Bidding for a contract to build a new beach and dune system along the rest of the island's oceanfront is scheduled to begin in late October. The project is scheduled to take no more than 15 months, but that will depend on the weather and other factors. The dune crest will be 22 feet above sea level and the beach berm will be 125 feet wide, according to Steve Rochette, spokesman for the corps' Philadelphia District.

  • Bidding for a proposed Manasquan Inlet to Barnegat Inlet beach project may begin this winter. The project will take nearly two years to complete, but the schedule depends on the weather and other factors. The dune crest will be 22 feet above sea level except in Seaside Heights and northern Point Pleasant Beach, where it will be 18 feet above the water level. The beach berm will extend 75 feet from the seaward toe of the dune to the berm crest except in Seaside Heights and northern Point Pleasant Beach, where the berm will extend 100 feet, according to Rochette.

Public assistance

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has pledged nearly $6.7 billion in New Jersey as of Oct. 3, including $1.5 billion for Sandy-related public assistance projects. That money paid for 90 percent of public infrastructure or facilities projects, such as the reconstruction of the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor and the Belmar boardwalk.

The federal agency has gotten more attention for the $3.5 billion it paid out to New Jersey policyholders through the National Flood Insurance Program, or perhaps the billions more that it hasn't paid out. Many of those same policyholders have spoken out against what they perceived as low-ball offers for a flood-insurance policythat each had supported with thousands of dollars in premiums over the years.

Much of the rebuilding has been financed through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which has committed $4.2 billion. Much of that money is earmarked for the state's primary homeowner aid initiative, the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program.

Gov. Chris Christie was in Toms River on Thursday to trumpet the program surpassing $1.1 billion in commitments to homeowners. More than 3,600 homeowners, he said, are currently in the construction phase.

However, the governor's message of the program's success was met with derision by some in the room, representing the frustration of homeowners who have been shuffled back and forth in the glacially paced RREM program.

Contributing: Staff Photographer Tanya Breen

Todd B. Bates: 732-643-4237; tbates@app.com; Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748

Municipal recovery

Update on the status of municipal recovery efforts in hard-hit towns Monmouth and Ocean counties, according to recent information provided by municipal officials:

Union Beach: 50 percent recovered. Total estimated cost of construction since Sandy: $55.6 million. Homes to be demolished: 112. Homes demolished since Sandy: 293. Homes elevated since Sandy: 171. New home construction since Sandy: 170. Bank foreclosures in process: 134.

Keansburg: 488 homes that are unoccupied, under construction or in limbo; 45 homes being elevated; 14 businesses reopened and roughly 12 that haven't.

Highlands: Recovery estimated at 70 percent. An estimated 5 to 10 percent fewer people live in Highlands than before Sandy. The borough had 5,005 residents in 2010, according to the U.S. Census. About 160 house-lifting permits have been issued and homeowners have had more than 50 demolitions done. An estimated 75 businesses are open compared with about 90 before Sandy, with many still in transition.

Long Branch: 65 percent recovered at the waterfront, 85 percent throughout the city. 75 substantially damaged homes. 24 homes elevated or being elevated. 16 homes demolished or being demolished. 8 new homes constructed or being constructed where previous homes were demolished.

Belmar: Likely about 75 percent recovered. Fewer than 10 people displaced. Two boardwalk pavilions hammered by Sandy have not been rebuilt. Received nearly $19 million in federal and insurance funding and waiting for another $5 million.

Manasquan: 75 percent recovered. 60 percent of homes were flood-damaged. 143 homes demolished; 122 new homes built; 101 houses elevated. Many homes are under construction or just receiving state assistance.

Toms River: Demolition permits: 1,505 approved, 1,185 completed (423 knocked down since the spring); new home permits: 1,020 approved, 325 completed (253 built since the spring); elevation permits: 398 approved, 77 completed (56 lifted since the spring).

Toms River administrator Paul Shives said Sandy washed away about $2.25 billion of its tax base, but half of that has been recovered in the two years since and officials expect the rest to be restored in the next three years.

Tuckerton: 130 new and elevated homes since Sandy; 96 homes repaired; 57 buildings demolished, 32 more in the pipeline.

The town spent more than $1 million to move critical infrastructure, like the police department and the office of emergency management, away from flood-prone areas so services won't be as severely impacted after the next storm.

Stafford: Demolition permits issued since Sandy: 651; new homes completed since Sandy: 467; elevation and reconstruction permits: 283

There are few practical solutions for protecting the most vulnerable areas of the township, administrator Jim Moran said. One option Stafford has been pushing has been to take dredge spoils from Manahawkin Bay and use them to create artificial barrier islands in the bay to act as breakwaters for waterfront communities. Moran said this solution "has not been met with enthusiasm" by the state.