Hurricane Sandy

Brick Barrier Island Residents May Gain More Access Soon

Mayor says he's just waiting for state approval

Brick hopes to allow its barrier island residents and property owners to be able to drive to their properties in their own vehicles "soon," but the township needs state approval first. "We hope it will be soon, we hope it's within days," said Mayor Stephen Acropolis, on a bus tour Thursday of many of the township's Sandy-ravaged waterfront and low-lying sections. "We're just waiting for some construction work to be cleared, for Route 35 to be opened and for approval from the state Department of Transportation." On Thursday morning, Acropolis, Police Chief Nils Bergquist, other police officers and the National Guard traveled by police-escorted bus with a limited number of media to tour the township's barrier island and other damaged areas …

•  26 Comments
• Photos (17)

Local Expert: Don't Overhype Local Hurricane Potential Just Yet

Meteorologist warns that an active pattern increases our odds, but a lot has to happen for Jersey to be hit

Record heat has many locals thinking that the Jersey Shore could face tropical activity. Some feel like we dodged a bullet last week as former Tropical Storm Emily went out to sea. But a casual observer to this Atlantic Hurricane season may say it was over-hyped. Meteorologist Steven DiMartino operates his own forecast consulting firm in Freehold, nynjpaweather.com, and says he has seen signs of this summer’s heat since late winter. “There’s a lot of cooling in the stratosphere. In fact, there’s so much that it is causing a compression and heating in the troposphere. We live in the troposphere, and it is where our weather originates,” he said. According to the National Weather Service, July was the warmest on record in Philadelphia. The …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)