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Call it Crazy says

For those of you who think Sandy was a economic non-issue, here's report from just ONE county in NJ... there are many counties involved in NJ and NY....

Ocean County faces economic crisis post-Sandy

TOMS RIVER — An estimated $33 billion worth of taxable real estate in Ocean County has sustained catastrophic damage or been obliterated in superstorm Sandy, according to the Board of Freeholders.

“It is a catastrophe for those towns, it is a huge problem for the rest of the county, because the (ocean) beach is a third of the county’s tax base,” said Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., director of finance on the five-member, all-Republican committee. “From Point Pleasant to Beach Haven, it is roughly 1/3 of the value of the entire county and a lot of that has been destroyed.”

There is the problem, the beachfront is 1/3 of the value of the entire county but only at best 2-3% of the land thanks to federal flood insurance. Without it the area would not be nearly as built up or as valuable. Your tax dollars supporting millionaires homes on the beaches.

Just got back from Atlantic City, and from what I could tell, the beach erosion was by far the most prominent difference. The beach bars were damaged as well, but it really didn't look like anything major once they are dug out. The beach replenishment that has occurred over the past year or so has been wiped out, and the beach pretty much looks exactly the same as it was before the beach replenishment (as in badly in need of beach replenishment, again).

I don't know how empty Atlantic City normally is on a Thursday night in December, but it was emptier than I have ever seen it (I had not been there in the winter before). There were no lines for anything, except at hotel checkout. The boardwalk had places that were boarded up for the storm and most likely just left that way for the season, but otherwise looked undamaged. It was cold, but above freezing but I'm guessing that the boardwalk was as thinly populated as it was because it was extremely windy.

I did feed some of the boardwalk cats. Specifically this one: