Post Irene Analysis by Ryan Schwertfeger
So, Irene has come but she’ll never be gone, especially in the thoughts of many locals here in Oakland and all across New Jersey. The flooding broke all time records and the stories that poured in across the county, New Jersey, and the east coast was unthinkable.
Beaches were closed, entire towns and counties were evacuated, shelters were set up, transit was shut down, and the governor was telling us to “get the hell of the beach” because we’d “maximized [our] tan”.
While some beach areas were decimated by the storm, most shore towns came out remarkably unscathed. This is great news for Labor Day weekend since businesses along the shore need the tourist dollars. However, the same optimistic sigh of relief can’t be made inland.
Areas all across the state experienced severe effects from Irene and the name Floyd came up just as often as the “I” name did. Areas in Passaic and Morris counties were shown on the news very often with the shocking scenes a house fire in Pompton Lakes, the closure of Rt. 287 because of massive erosion, and the flooding that swept across Paterson and Little Falls. Right here in Oakland, damage was pretty severe. Homes were moved off their foundations, river rescues were made, and an oil spill up in New York State brought heating oil flowing down the Ramapo into Mahwah and Oakland.
Tensions were even high before the storm hit as residents at a town council meeting expressed concerns about the hurricane and the town said there was little they could do because of the massive rainfall that was expected. Governor Christie took a chance and listened to homeowners a few days before Irene hit to open the Pompton Lakes Dam and release some water. It made no difference.
This brings me to an important point as we survey the damage and the response after the storm. From what I can see, people across the state are split about storm preparations and the response afterward. Some say that there was so much hoop-lah for nothing. Others say the state didn’t do enough, and others are just begging for much needed assistance. Politicians and column writers said that the state was making more of a deal out of this because of the scandal that occurred in December when the governor was in Florida and the Lt. Governor was away. Nevertheless, there was a dialog before, during, and after the storm and the media made sure people knew about the storm threat and potential. In the end though, I think there is very little to complain about when one looks at the big picture. Yes, towns and cities and streets still need cleaning up. Yes, some people still don’t have power and it might be another few days before they can put food in their refrigerator. Yes, there was a horrible oil spill that caused Mahwah to shut down the wells near the river. But, in the grand scheme of things I think the state did a great job.
Rt. 287 is almost open already by the erosion site after crews worked around the clock, DEP crews have been coming to towns across the state seeing environmental impacts, massive evacuations most surely saved lives at the shore, power crews have been traveling across the state to restore power, and now President Obama is coming to look at the damage after declaring the state a disaster area. Some people choose to complain about the slowness of the recovery post Irene but with a state so densely populated, it is impossible to restore power and help everybody in 2 days or less. There will never be a FAST hurricane recovery anywhere unless you live in Shangri-La. So, take a breath, say a prayer, and be thankful for what you do have: your life.
We know it’s going to be an interesting and bumpy road ahead as the federal government, the state government, and our local government must make decisions on what the future is for the river areas but in the meanwhile, stay safe everyone.