By Lauren Wanko
NJ Today
“I was here a day after the storm and it just looked like Armageddon,” said Chris Nelson, special council of Mantoloking.
Eight weeks after Hurricane Sandy, Mantoloking still feels like a ghost town. The fierce ocean waves pound against the now empty beach. The wind whistles through the eerily quiet streets. Remnants of Sandy’s wrath can be found throughout this entire Ocean County community.
“We lost every single utility in town from cable television all the way to gas. We still have no electricity to residences, we still have no gas to residences, we still have no sewer or water,” Nelson said. “It’s not for lack effort. Every single utility company has been out here day and night.”
WATCH VIDEO:
There are more than 520 homes in this community. Nelson says just about every house was damaged in some capacity from the storm. Sixty homes are now gone, washed away by the storm, and 139 homes are uninhabitable.
Nearly all of the sand dunes along the 2.2 miles of beachfront washed away. So far 30,000 cubic yards of storm related debris was removed from town. The Mantoloking Bridge is repaired after the base of the bridge flooded during Sandy. The tidal surge pushed homes onto roadways and into the bay.
“We’re the smallest town with the most amount of damage so we have to take it one step at a time,” said Mantoloking Chief of Police Mark Wright. “We can’t expect anything to happen overnight. It’s baby steps.”
As for the cost of the damage, Nelson said, “It’s unfathomable. We talk about FEMA assistance, our town really, really needs it. We need it to go to 90-10. I know they went to 100 percent in Katrina. We could use it as well.”
This residential community doesn’t have a boardwalk and there are only two businesses in town. The borough’s budget is driven by the property taxes and beach badges.
“Property taxes pay a large part. How do you access a home that’s not here anymore? The town will work it through. We’re figure out how to deal with it,” Nelson said.
Residents and contractors are allowed back into town daily. Jeanne Hulc is faced with rebuilding her entire home. Despite her personal struggles, every day she delivers a home-cooked meal to 45 emergency personnel and police officers.
“Look at these guys, they’re our family here,” Hulc said. “I just feel like I need to be here. Even though it’s all tragedy, I need to be here every single day. People just don’t understand. It’s a different world over that bridge.”
Nelson says Hulc is just one of the heroes in this small beach town. They’ve lost so much here, but they haven’t lost their sense of community.
“We’re very thankful for all the folks that have spent time away from their families and away from their own homes to come and help us rebuild,” Nelson said.
And rebuilding is something they’re determined to do.
“It’s a great community and it’ll continue to be a great community,” said Nelson. “We will rebuild and we will be stronger than ever before.”