Thinking of Looting? Don't Even Try It

Berkeley Township police will be scouring some sections of Bayvile for looters in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Looters are “coming out of the woodwork now,” Township Council President James J. Byrnes said.

Anyone without identification in those areas will be asked to leave, he said.

Sandalwood Drive, Bay Avenue and Butler Boulevard were extremely hard-hit, Byrnes said.

“The first half of the blocks up from the bay were hit very, very hard,” Byrnes said. Most of the newer homes aren’t too bad, he said, but the homes built in the 1960s were extremely damaged.

South Seaside Park and Pelican Island residents who disregarded mandatory evacuation orders now have no water, said Mayor Carmen F. Amato, because it’s been turned off. He said he is asking Lowe's and CostCo to donate drinking water for those residents.

“Residents who stayed, if they leave the barrier island, they can’t get back,” Amato said.

Amato said the township has already requested a FEMA headquarters to be set up in Bayville as soon as possible, probably at the township recreation center on Route 9 South.

Byrnes said he has called for an emergency township council meeting at 9 a.m. on Saturday in town hall.