Hurricane Sandy

On Oct. 29th Berkeley Township was hit by a category 1 hurricane named Sandy. Prior to its arrival, I, along with our Office of Emergency Management staff began setting plans in motion to protect our residents and keep them from harms way.

However, this hurricane’s devastation left an indelible mark that Berkeley Township will never forget. Homes were torn apart, people’s lives were changed as never before and property damage was uncontrollable. Many of our residents lost their personal possessions and had their properties ruined.   

They also lost memories of a peaceful, trouble-free community, seeing it shattered before their eyes while fearing for their safety. There was much property loss, homes destroyed or ravaged, some homes missing.

We all feared for the safety of our residents before the predicted storm. Sandy created major power outages, hundreds of trees down and homeowners displaced.  In the days following, residents had to make their way in darkness in their own homes, if they were fortunate to still have those homes. They were put upon to look for gasoline for not only their cars, but countless generators they had learned to rely on for small amounts of heat and light in their houses.

Roads were impassable, the tides had risen and flooded so many areas that many people were forced to evacuate with just the clothes on their backs.  None of us were prepared mentally for what would come with this storm. But we prevailed.

We learned minute by minute how to cope, what we needed to do and we did it as a strong community. We worked together.

Now as things have improved for many, there are still many who are trying to pick up the pieces, finding where to get help, to rebuild, to put their lives back together, although they will never be the same.

I am proud of our Township residents. We came together as community with food drives, and clothing drives, as needed shelters were opened. Neighbors helped neighbors. I would personally like to thank the Departments of Public Works, Sanitation, Fire, First aid, Parks, Police, our school board Superintendents, Dr. Roselli and Dr. Parlapanides, for their service and support. I also want to thank the countless number of volunteers, who came from many miles to help in the collection of donated items and ice and water distribution.  

Also thanks to the many local restaurants who donated food for our workers, volunteers and displaced homeowners. Special thanks to our O.E.M. members, Police Chief Karin DiMichele, Sgt. George Dohn and Patrolman Rip Bondilich. The four of us spent more time together than with our families in dealing with the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

We appreciate those residents who were fortunate not to have extensive damage patience as we redirected our staff and resources towards the cleanup. This week those resources will be back picking up recycling and begin our leaf pickup. Now, we need everyone's support as we move from clean-up phase to rebuilding phase. To help homeowners affected, we have waived construction and zoning fees.

The DPW and Police continue to work to clean up and protect those areas decimated by this forceful storm. And as a community we will continue this process until peace is restored.

We have lost much. But we have gained the knowledge that regardless the tragedy that befalls us, we help each other in troubled times. Hurricane Sandy has shown us the strength that we have when we need it. I am proud to be a member of this community, and Mayor of Berkeley Township.  I am extremely proud of our residents. God Bless Berkeley Township. God Bless America.