It's been almost three months since Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coast, destroying and ravaging homes and unraveling lives.
And three months later, a drive through the Good Luck Point and Glen Cove sections of Bayville is depressing and bleak.
Good Luck Point was and remains a horror show since Sandy struck. Houses knocked off their foundations. Homes tilted even more than they were in October, as foundations crack in the frigid January air. Some rooms and houses have simply disapppeared.
Good Luck Point was once a neighborhood. Not anymore. Almost everyone is gone, except for those few who live in homes built later and higher than the modest homes that went up in the 1950s and 1960s.
"Done With It," one owner spraypainted on his Beach Drive home.
There are similar scenes in Glen Cove. Many residents, like Township Council President James J. Byrnes, will have to wait until they can go home again.
Some have to demolish their houses, others have to wait to see how high they have to go up after repairs are made. A dumpster sits outside Jim Byrnes' home now. Half of his house has been torn down.
Drive farther down Bayview Avenue and turn left on Balsam Drive. The older houses are open to the elements, sagging on their foundations. Will these people ever be able to return?
This January seems colder than most.
But don't worry summer is coming and Dr.P is hiring two more cops and they are going to help write tickets against you this summer.
And the tax issue is a problem because before the storm those on high were saying they were going to raise everyone's taxes because of the foreclosure problem. Then came Sandy, and a new threat to up the taxes. We need to consider cutting the town's budget because this will become a ghost town. Rows of empty retail stores and houses in bad shape are bringing down the attractiveness of living here. It's cheaper to move to Lacey where Exelon floats their taxes and the town is in good shape.