My wife’s relatives have places there, so this is of more than a little interest. Apparently:
1.) 50 feet of Funtime Pier is gone, maybe more by now
2.) Part of Casino Pier is gone
3.) A lot of Boardwalk between the piers is gone
4.) The 8-foot high dunes that they’ve been lovingly trying to cultivate Beach Grass on have been swept away
5.) Sand is piled up on the Boardwaqlk in drifts, like snow
6.) Lights are down on the bridges to the Island, and on Route 35
7.) The Police Chief this morning told the evacueees (96% evacuation of the town) not to come back yet, it was devastated.
8.) He also said, at the height of the storm, that “the whole north part of the town is umnder water”
I have family connections to Seaside Park dating back about eighty years, and to Toms River and to other shore towns for another twenty.
Funtown is actually in Seaside Park (the border is Porter Ave). I have seen it ripped up by hurricanes before, but I think you’d have to go back to the '50s to see rides falling into the drink.
I’d be surprised if much of that Casino Pier/Breakwater Beach Waterpark extension into the ocean survived.
There’s quite a bit online about Tom’s River. I’ve been trying to find out more about Atlantic City, Ocean City, Point Pleasant, and Asbury Park. There hasn’t been a lot online (more about AC than the others, but surprisingly little, considering its importance). Pt. Pleasant apparently had 5 feet of water on the streets, sand going down the streets, and a lot of boardwalk damage, too, but I haven;'t found pictures. I hear Asbury Park had boardwalk damage, too.
You can find quite a bit on Cape May, which was also hit pretty hard.
I haven’t heard or read anything about Wildwood or Beach Haven.
Seaside Heights was “my beach” growing up in North Jersey. As soon as we could drive it was our destination for summer fun. Spent the week after prom there. Yes, it’s associated with *Jersey Shore *, and it’s pretty accurate, but I loved that place as a teenager. Hope they can rebuild.
This is one of the least damaged shots. And we can breathe easy, knowing that the Jersey Shore house survived, if only because it means that chunk of the Boardwalk is relatively OK:
Videos from National Guard:
You can see what happened to Funtown Pier in this one:
I’m confused about some of this. Those pictures must not show the complete devastation, because the three big attractions there were on Funtown Pier, and the latest pictures seem to show nothjing standing there. Maybe they collapsed after the first pictures were taken. On ABC this morning they had live video showing existing Boardwalk north of Funtown (Yay!), but showing Funtown Pier destroyed, with only the roller coaster (a “Wild Mouse” type, IIRC), sticking above the waves.
From what the reporter said this morning, the roller coaster was many feet from where it stands now. It had been in the middle of rolling seas but the surge pushed it inland. The aerial shot shows the ferris standing-- right on the water line.
But I couldn’t see the ferris wheel or the Tower of Terror in the ABC report from this morning – and I should have been able to, if they were standing. I think they eventually succumbed, although they lasted for a while after the storm.
I just heard that the items are gone, along with the 1910 carousel (The “Floyd Moreland” Carousel, named after the NYU professor who has been preserving it). I’m sad to see the carousel go, not only because of its age, but because we had our wedding pictures taken on it.
Latest footage shows the ferris wheel and the Tower of Terror still standing. I don’t have visual confirmation about the 1910 carousel being gone, although it looks like the one on Funtown Pier is.
