U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) is asking the federal government for help after a powerful nor’easter slammed New Jersey’s coastline this past weekend and caused serious beach erosion.
Van Drew tells the Press of Atlantic City he’s asked the Army Corps of Engineers to activate its disaster recovery authority, pointing to the combined damage from this storm and Hurricane Erin in August, which washed away entire dunes and left streets flooded across barrier islands. Millions were spent replenishing beaches in the Sea Isle and Ocean City areas in 2023, and it took a matter of hours for the storm to wipe it away.
On Thursday, the state Department of Environmental Protection issued its preliminary assessment of the damage from the most recent storm and said it found “notable erosion occurred along several reaches of the coast, especially south of Manasquan Inlet.”
Meanwhile, according to meteorologists, the two-and-a-half inches of rain dumped by the nor’easter across parts of the state wasn’t nearly enough to pull New Jersey out of a drought. According to the latest data from the DEP, overall conditions are still much dryer than usual at this time of year, and the rainfall mainly benefitted the eastern part of the state. It’s still too soon to tell if there’s been an impact to the overall water supply.
