Mapping Out Areas in New Jersey at Risk of Future Flooding as Ocean Levels Rise

How vulnerable is New Jersey to flooding caused by rising sea levels and climate change? Very vulnerable, according to a new tool developed by Climate Central, a Princeton-based nonprofit that researches the effects of climate change. A year after Sandy…

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Information Matters: Getting The Real Story Of Sandy Recovery, Preparing For The Next One

Frustrated with your community’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy?  Your own recovery?  Wish the press was doing a better job reporting the nightmare of dealing with insurance companies and government red tape?  Are you concerned about preparedness for the next storm? Wish you could do something about it and have your voice heard by a wider audience?

This half day seminar on Saturday morning is for you.

Citizens Campaign, WHYY/Newsworks, and the Penn Project for Civic Engagement are hosting a Citizen Journalist training on Saturday:

WHEN

October 05, 2013 at 9am – 1pm

Skilled professionals will be teaching the basics of journalism, from fact finding to newswriting and photojournalism.  Breakout sessions will include:

• Fact Finding & Reporting: collecting the facts and information to get the story
• Capturing the Perfect Shot: Video & Photo Journalism
• How to Conduct a Study with Engaging Techniques:  how to conduct your own “study circles” with your neighbors on important issues
• News Writing 101: crafting effective hard news stories & opinion pieces; interviewing skills

The event is free and includes a light breakfast at 8:30 and lunch.

Pre-registration is required.  You can do that here.

Community Sponsors: Ocean County College, WHYY/Newsworks, Jersey Shore Hurricane News, Creative NJ, Clean Ocean Action, Sustainable Jersey and the New Jersey Recovery Fund.

Can’t make it this Saturday?  There is another event on November 2 at Monmouth University.

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Homeowners Hit By Sandy Get More Time to Appeal Settlements

Homeowners Hit By Sandy Get More Time to Appeal Settlements (via NJSpotlight)

Sandy survivors still battling over their flood insurance claims will now have more time to appeal their settlements. In a bulletin issued yesterday FEMA announced it will extend for another six months the period for Sandy-impacted homeowners to file…

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Hurricane Sandy insurance complaints lead to N.J. enforcement actions against adjusters

Hurricane Sandy insurance complaints lead to N.J. enforcement actions against adjusters (via NJ.com)

Nearly a year after Hurricane Sandy slammed into New Jersey, the state’s insurance regulator has quietly fined a handful of industry professionals over their work following the Oct. 29 superstorm. So far, the Department of Banking and Insurance hasn…

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A Second Highlands House Collapses

49 Second Street, Highlands. Click for larger view.

For the second time in less than a month, a home being lifted above the floodplain has collapsed in the borough of Highlands.

At 9:43 this evening the Highlands Police Department received a call that the house at 49 Second Street had collapsed.

The Highlands Fire Department  and eight volunteer members of the Highlands First Aid Squad are on the scene.  There were no injuries reported.  Gas and electric utilities were shut off.  The utility companies have not been notified and neighboring homes have not been evacuated.

The home had already been lifted.  A resident on the scene told MMM that the cause of the collapse is believed to be wind.

On August 23, a house being lifted onto its temporary cribbing collapsed in the borough.  The contractor on the scene of the August

49 Second St, Highlands on July 26. Photo courtesy of Kerry McEntee Gowan via facebook

23rd incident said it was an accident.

There was no contractor on the scene in Highlands tonight.  A lawn sign for Jerome Homes House Lifting was on the Second Street property.

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FEMA OK’s $1.6 million to Sea Girt for Superstorm Sandy Repairs

FREEHOLD, N.J. – The Borough of Sea Girt in Monmouth County received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has awarded more than $1.6 million to help pay for costs that resulted from Superstorm Sandy, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said today.

The grant will provide $1,616,817 in Federal funding to Sea Girt to pay for 90 percent of over $1,796,000 in repair costs incurred by Superstorm Sandy. 

Reconstruction will take shape in two phases, after the completion of preliminary work of removing about 6,666 cubic yards of sand by municipal workers, and demolition of the damaged boardwalk by Frank Lurch Demolition. Demolition includes the removal of damaged but intact piles, girders, stringers, plastic decking, railings, and light fixtures. Salvageable decking, light fixtures and railings will be turned over to the town to be reused in the first phase of reconstruction. Sea Girt has contracted with Wallace Contracting, Inc. to complete Phase I, which is 833 linear feet of boardwalk, reusing 896 salvaged deck boards, 320 salvaged timber stringers and 900 feet of salvaged railing. Boardwalk steps and one handicap ramp will be installed, construction includes replacing 50 new, timber piles, 38 new double girder timber pile caps, 360 new timber stringers, 1,030 new lengths of composite boardwalk decking, and 980 feet of new pipe handrail.

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Christie: We’ve had a good summer. There’s more work to do

Governor Christie: Part of what I want I’m going to be doing this week, is to get out and around the state with two messages. First, is that for those folks who didn’t believe that we could have a summer in 2013 here in New Jersey, through all the hard work of people at local, state, and federal government, individual citizens, we’ve been able to have a really good summer on the Jersey Shore especially here in the southern part of the state. But secondly, to also remind people that because we had a good summer from a business perspective in many parts of the state, doesn’t mean for a second that we’re forgetting the people whose lives are still turned upside down by this storm. There are still thousands of people who are not back in their homes, people who are still trying to grapple with the damage and the loss from Sandy, and we’re continuing everyday through the grant programs that we have to help those folks. And I won’t rest until all those people are able to make their own decision about whether they want to get back in their home or whether they want to move on to something else. And we have to be able to do both at the same time everybody. If we waited for everyone to have their lives return to normal before we started to market our state and help these businesses, these businesses around us wouldn’t be open. People wouldn’t come. If we haven’t had this tourism campaign that we’ve had, if we hadn’t done the things that we needed to do to let people know that we can walk and chew gum at the same time. You know we can promote our businesses, and promote the good things that we’ve done while also acknowledging that there’s more work to do.

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Highlands Home Collapses While Being Lifted

Highlands, NJ- A home that had been damaged in Superstorm Sandy collapsed while being lifted above the floodplain this morning, destroying an adjoining home in the process.  No one was injured.  Both homes will be torn down this afternoon.

Borough Engineer Dale Leubner said that the cribbing, the wood palates piled to hold the structure while lifting takes place, apparently failed on one corner of the home, causing the collapse.

No one was home in either property. Leubner said that residents of the neighborhood were evacuated.  Fire Departments from Asbury Park, Middletown and Naval Weapons Station Earle were on hand to assist the Highlands Volunteer Fire Department in preventing further property damage or injury.  Utility workers from JCP&L and New Jersey Natural Gas were on hand to shut off the utilities in preparation of the demolitions.

Steven Hasenfus, President of Hasenfus Construction, the company hired to lift the Locust Ave home said, “It was an accident.” Hasenfus declined to comment further.  Hasenfus Construction has offices in Long Branch and in Plymouth, MA.  Hasenfus’s LinkedIn profile says he’s from the Great Boston area.

Mayor Nolan thanked the Highlands first responders, and those from the neighboring communities who arrived to assist and urged homeowners who are rebuilding and raising their home to be careful.  “Thank God no one was hurt.  This should be a cautionary tale for homeowners to be sure they hire qualified contractors and that those contractors have adequate insurance.”

Patricia Parker, President of the Highlands Fire Department’s Ladies Auxilary, said that homeowners who are lifting their homes should be sure to remove all valuable possession and important papers.

The owner of the home that collapsed is traveling out of state.  Friends and family are on the scene waiting to recover whatever possession are in the home after it is demolished.

The adjoining home has been abandoned since Hurricane Irene devastated the borough in 2011.

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President Clinton and Governor Christie at CGI

This video is a must see for leaders of communities impacted by Sandy and other natural disasters.

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Report: New flood maps to be released on Monday

Middletown Patch is reporting that FEMA will release new flood maps for Atlantic, Hudson, Monmouth and Ocean Counties on Monday, June 17.

As expected, the new ‘preliminary’ maps will result in less homes being located in ‘V’ zones than were so rated in the maps released by FEMA in December following Superstorm Sandy.  V zones are areas along coasts that are subject to inundation by the 1-percent-annual-chance flood event with additional hazards associated with storm-induced waves.

Many of the properties located in V zones in the December flood maps will be in ‘A’ zones in the maps being released next week, according to a statement by U.S. Senator Bob Menendez as quoted by Patch.

A zones are also subject to the 1-percent annual-change flood event (100 year flood) but without the additional hazards from waves.

Homes in A zones will not have to be raised as high and homes in V zones and will have lower flood insurance premiums.

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