Politics & Government

Hurricane Sandy Damaged 60 Percent Of Seaside Heights Homes

New data released by the state Department of Community Affairs breaks down Sandy-related damage by municipality

Hurricane Sandy destroyed or damaged 60 percent of Seaside Heights' housing stock - the highest percentage of the storm's housing impact in Ocean County.

Nearly 60 percent of the borough's rental units also suffered damage from the October storm that impacted more than 24,000 homes in Ocean County alone, according to an interactive map of destruction, compiled by njspotlight.com, and U.S. Census Bureau statistcs (see chart below).

Of those 968 homes in Seaside Heights, 71 were severely damaged — meaning they were impacted by more than $28,800, according to data provided by the state Department of Community Affairs.

Find out what's happening in Toms Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Also:

  • 855 homes had minor damage; 42 had major damage.
  • There were 961 total rental units with damage — the second highest total in Ocean County, behind only Toms River; 457 suffered major damage.
  • 214 businesses were impacted.

Major damage includes homes that suffered $8,000 to $28,800 in damages while severe is more than $28,800.

Find out what's happening in Toms Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some urged caution in evaluating the numbers, noting the Federal Emergency Management Agency likely did not count every home damaged by Sandy.

"FEMA is only giving money right now to primary homeowners," said Stafford Township Administrator James Moran. "If FEMA didn't see these people, then they are not counting them. There are about 3,500 homes that are not FEMA related in Manahawkin because they are not eligible."

The data notes that nearly 87,000 housing units were damaged statewide, and about 12,500 of those were either destroyed or sustained major damage. At least 1,000 residences were damaged in 24 municipalities in seven counties. Nearly 400,000 businesses were impacted, as well.

The DCA recently released its action plan for spending billions of dollars in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recover funds. The initial phase will provide $1.8 billion to help more than 20,000 homeowners, 5,000 renters, 10,000 businesses, as well as municipalities impacted by the storm.

The bulk of the money for storm victims to elevate or repair their houses will be reserved for low to moderate income households, however, a decision that has drawn criticism from many residents and government officials.

But regardless of the impact of Sandy, the next battle for Shore residents will be FEMA flood maps which force residents to elevate their homes or face flood insurance bills up to $31,000 per year.

The controversy is double-faceted: the maps themselves, and the fact that the federal government will no longer subsidize flood insurance rates.

Some residents have called for local governments to begin appealing the maps before the next round are due to be released this summer, ushering in a formal public comment and appeal period, though going that route is questionable, some say.

"If we're not going to be ready until August, we're missing a huge opportunity," said Ron Jampel, who founded the group Save Our Communities 2013 in the wake of the hurricane. "People are waiting, and we've had three months already to look at the maps."

Here is the chart, starting with the numbers of homes, rentals and businesses damaged in each Ocean County town, followed by the entire housing and business population:


Homes Rentals Businesses TOTAL Homes TOTAL Rent Home per capita Seaside Heights 968 961 214 1,602 1,401 60% Seaside Park 1,058 237 134 2,208 495 47% Ship Bottom 829 110 157 1,793 273 46% Point Pleasant Beach 1,058 332 536 2,518 855 42% Tuckerton 608 172 181 1,477 425 41% Bay Head 253 63 106 924 99 27% Ocean Gate 243 131 50 900 303 27% Surf City 608 55 122 2,181 385 27% Toms River 7,665 1,140 5,089 29,851 6,754 25% South Toms River 219 33 172 929 231 23% Mantoloking 120 9 29 522 13 22% Eagelswood 135 17 146 671 89 20% Lavallette 576 190 37 2,850 367 20% Point Pleasant Boro 1,170 81 983 6,794 1,537 17% Little Egg Harbor 1,469 409 564 8,945 1,379 16% Beach Haven 260 109 195 2,410 257 10% Stafford (Manahawkin, Beach Haven West) 1,301 258 1,144 12,398 1,206 10% Long Beach Township 810 198 336 8,417 799 9% Brick 2,280 378 2,693 28,289 5,388 8% Berkeley 1,556 172 933 21,391 2,427 7% Lacey 652 115 1,095 10,372 1,201 6% Harvey Cedars 64 12 55 1,179 35 5% Island Heights 23 10 105 731 100 3% Waretown (Ocean Township) 49 70 241 3,878 413 1% Barnegat 78 22 695 8,053 1,032 0.90% Barnegat Light 17 2 82 1,953 113 0.80% Manchester 199 2 702 23,059 2,830 0.80% Beachwood 15 3 242 3,361 465 0.40% Plumstead 9 2 288 2,661 406 0.30% Lakewood 11 6 3,229 4,195 7,031 0.20% Jackson 27 1 1,568 17,618 2,724 0.10%


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here