STONE HARBOR – The first local impact from Hurricane Ian’s remnants began in South Jersey Sept. 30. The region felt the wrath of the slow-moving storm for six straight days. Buffeted by wind and rain, Cape May County’s island communities dealt with flooding and beach erosion. In some cases that erosion has resulted in serious public safety dangers.
At a council meeting Oct. 7, Stone Harbor officials reiterated to the public that all of the town’s beaches are closed while the borough awaits DEP emergency authorization to begin repairing beaches and scarfed dunes.
Public Works Director Manny Parada said that borough residents were evading the closed beach access paths and entering the beaches from the open Avalon end. He warned again of the safety hazards and emphasized that this storm produced significant scarfing even at the borough’s northern beaches, a relatively rare occurrence. As far north as 83rd Street Parada reported “cliff-like dunes” with “seven to eight-foot” high escarpments.
This new and dramatic damage followed on the heels of erosion from the Mother’s Day Storm in May. All of it comes as the Army Corps of Engineers is preparing for a major hydraulic beach fill in late 2022 or early 2023.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
