Thoughts on Topography and Evacuation

Topography gets little respect in many locales including Cape May County. We could care less, right? When the climate is bone dry, as it has been most of this summer, who could give a tumble about topography? Every place is dry, including many vernal ponds secluded in non-populated areas where frogs, toads and other forest creatures reside. Topography comes to the forefront of everyone’s mind after snow abounds, then quickly thaws, then, for good measure, Mother Nature showers the Jersey Cape with several inches of rain.
Then, topography becomes one of the most important topics to a deluged homeowner who must carry soggy possessions from crawl spaces, garages and Florida rooms.
The county government is well aware of this peninsula’s topography. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction awards have been granted this year to install drains and pipelines to get water from there is winds up — the lowest spot — to some even lower place. That’s when topography becomes the buzzword.
While the Cape might seem flat as a pancake, it is not. Far from it. There are gentle ups and downs that become apparent when you are bicycling that go completely unnoticed in our vehicles.
Remember when many roads were flooded last winter, and residents were complaining they could not access their homes? Those large puddles in yards and on roads are proof of those high and low spots.
I was told by an octogenarian Court House resident with a keen memory, that once a drainage ditch channeled waters south toward Burleigh which crossed what is now the Parkway somewhere in the vicinity of Wildwood Golf Club. Trouble is, development closed it off, so water had no where to drain into the marshes.
Something about topography meshes with what something warriors have known since they tossed rocks at each other: High ground is better than low land. Seek a high place, and you will prevail in the battle. Wise home buyers know the lay of their property, and realize what is low and what is high.
Thus, it was with interest I read the legal notice in the July 6 edition (Page A55 if you want to read it for yourself) telling of the county’s plan to raise Sea Isle City Boulevard (County Road 625) above the 100-year flood level from just east of Garden State Parkway to the bridge over Ludlam Thorofare.
It is a smart move, something that has been done with other causeways, like North Wildwood Boulevard.
But then, I got thinking once again about topography. If the road is being raised, so that it will not be covered with water when “The Big One” hits, what of the barrier islands? What of the rest of the county?
Will the only safe place during that centennial storm be atop the county MUA’s sanitary landfill in Woodbine? It IS the highest point in the county, you know, thanks to our propensity to perpetuate our “throwaway” society.
Those who have called this place home for more than one serious storm, and more than a few winter and spring “floodings” know the importance of high ground.
From flooded roads, where some disgusted residents (rogues really) placed dummies with lifejackets to call attention to their problem to places where every high tide means moving one’s car to high, dry ground, the people are beginning to see how important topography can be to their lives.
Bulkhead adjustments are being made along barrier islands to protect roads and properties. They are made higher and with “flapper valves” that close so as not to allow tidal flow in after street runoff exits.
But what if the islands flood, and vehicles get stuck in high water, what’s the benefit of a higher causeway to evacuate?
If, all of a sudden, we are focusing on evacuation (how imaginative), there are a lot more roads that need raising than just Sea Isle City Boulevard if we expect to get the masses out of here when that whopper storm is blowing up the coast.
Having been spared from Sea Isle City with their tootsies dry as those of the Israelites who crossed the Red Sea, will refuge from the storm be deluged on Garden State Parkway just north of their exodus point?
That roadway, too, ought to be raised, if full-scale evacuation is to take place.
Does the state Department of Transportation intend to raise Route 47 from the Goshen area and through Dennis Township, and then through Cumberland County? Marsh level is hardly sufficient for motorists to escape rising tides driven by storm surge.
For those who would care to comment on the raising of Sea Isle Boulevard, which will include replacing existing tidal equalizer pipes and rebuilding of aging bulkhead, the 30-day public comment period will start July 20.
The permit application can be seen at the municipal clerk’s office or by appointment at the Department of Environmental Protection’s Trenton office.
Written comments will be accepted within 30 days to: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Land Use Regulation, P.O. Box 439, 501 E. State St., Trenton, N.J. 08625-0439.