LBIViews
A look at Long Beach Island, NJ
Tropical Storm Isaias hit Long Beach Island on Tuesday morning, August 4th, 2020 leaving wind damage and an island wide power outage.
Tropical Storm Isaias started as Hurricane Isaias. It hit Florida and traveled up the east coast severely hammering the Outer Banks.
Long Beach Island had a decent amount of warning.
The morning started off quietly. Most weather forecasts were calling for increasing winds throughout the day with possible gusts in the 70 MPH range.
Throughout the morning, the wind speeds increased. Fortunately the combination of wind, rain and tide did not lead to any significant flooding.
By about 2 pm, the winds had kicked up substantially.
By about 2:15, the worst of the storm had passed. The ocean, at least close to the beach, seemed calmer than the bay.
At about 11:40 am, I got notices that power was out at home in Southampton, PA which is in Bucks County. Power had flickered once or twice. At around 11:40 power failed in North Beach Haven. The winds were howling at that time.
From reports on Facebook and Twitter, it seemed apparent that the whole island was experiencing an outage. The power feed to the island suffers from the same single point of failure as does the causeway. The Causeway is the only way on and off the island.
Rumors were that there were failures at substations in Manahawkin and as you come onto the island. In addition, several of the poles carrying the high tension lines had snapped along the island.
I made a run to the Acme in Brant Beach hoping to grab some ice. They had been sold out since early morning. I tried a couple of other places but they were either closed or out.
I was able to get 4 20# bags at a local bait shop. I walked up just as they were in the process of closing. That took care of our two refrigerators and left some to share with the neighbors.
The ice was a smart move. When power was finally restored, we didn’t have to discard any of the food. The frozen food was still frozen and the refrigerated food was well within safe limits as measured by a laser thermometer.
On the way down on August 2, I threw a small tailgater generator in the car. It was still new in the box as I use a 4500 KW generator at home. I didn’t bring any gas as I don’t like travelling with it in the truck. I was able to get a five gallon can and oil at Hands in Beach Haven first thing in the morning. The gas Station near the Wawa in Spray beach was open so I had gas for the generator.
Of course, that won’t power any major appliances but it did provide enough power to charge phones and have some light.
What amazed me was the lack of generators in homes. We are in an old 1950’s Cape Cod and at least had an 800 Watt generator. That can be purchased for less than $100. None of the McMansions in the neighborhood generators. A decent 5000 watt generator can be purchased for less than what one of the widescreen televisions costs.
That night is was a bit eerie to walk to the bay. Almost every home was dark. The only lights were those from solar powered deck lights and our generator.
On Wednesday, I tried powering the Comcast router with a battery backup I was using for other purposes. The router powered up but it was apparent that the network was down. The Internet did not return until power to the island was restored.
I have Verizon. When power went out to the island, data on the phones was slow. I tried using my Wifi Hotspot and that worked relatively well. My concern was what backups were the cell towers using? If they were running battery backups, that could cause a failure of cell service. The same would apply to diesel generators.
Fortunately the disaster planners got that one right. Cell service was available throughout the duration of the outages.
We have a gas stove and there were no interruptions with service. The same applied to water. I drove by the water tower in Beach Haven and you could hear the hum of a massive generator. I’m assuming the same was true for the township.
Most of the restaurants had to close down due to the inability to cook. I noticed that Buckalews and The Holiday Snack Bar were serving take out. Other restaurants may also have been open
Almost all of the lights on the island were out except for the traffic lights at the circle to the bridge. As people ventured out it became a little dangerous. People were trying to cross the boulevard or make a left turn from a side street.
A safer alternative would be to make a right, then a left and go around a block to go in your chosen direction.
Bicyclists and pedestrians were meandering across the street
Going off-island around 5pm on Wednesday August 5th wasn’t as bad as I expected. Oncoming traffic was backed up about a mile before the causeway. Police were directing traffic at the circle in Ship Bottom.
Peak winds of over 100 MPH were recorded. The National Weather Center hasn’t compiled all the information as of August 10th 2020. When it is compiled, you should be able to find it here.
We were hearing emergency sirens going off at least every hour. I’m not sure if those were accidents or not. Some reports said it might be backup batteries failing on home alarm systems.
Some houses lost shingles or siding. Unsecured items were, in many cases, blown away.
The tent where the Surflight Theater was holding shows was destroyed. Some tents being used by restaurants were uplifted or destroyed. However, many owners took action beforehand to remove the canvas or lower the tent.
Overall, the damage was minimal. We were fortunate that there was no flooding. Perhaps people will learn from this and purchase a generator instead of another high definition television.
The storm highlighted the fact that there is only one bridge to the island. It might be possible to build a second bridge but that is not likely to happen.
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