Really!! You would jeapordize your life for material possessions. Sounds like you should be thankful you are ok.

grow up

Don't you think that is kind of a dumb thing to say? It's not safe to go back. Obviously, they care about human life.

That would be Darwinism at work.

You ignorance and brevado is nauseating. Grow up.

To Joe - "darwinism at work"...too funny & true!!

I also will not leave next time.Everyone should attend the next city council meeting to express discontent.It,s fine to ask people to leave but to not let people back in is UNAMERICAN
Anthony T.

I guess the bass barn isn't the only place where your a complete jerk off.

I second your comments !! There is no way that we will evacuate again. Other people are safely getting around OC. To keep us out of our permanent home is out of control govt. B.S.

Really, come on now. Doesn't look like any of the cities officials have slept in 72 hrs. Use common sense and a bit of patience goes along way.

It is truly a shame ignorance is not painful.

He smiled, laughed and informed everyone that he will not be running for re
relection, No worries

really. grow up.

look, you are inspiring foolish thoughts in John K. bet if you need help or are in danger, you will call the officials you revile.

Would you rather risk the life of your loved ones? Grow up!

Jill Z I wonder if your mom evacuated to same hotel as my mom. she resides at a senior citizen's home there in OC. the hotel she is at in land also running on generators. Trying to stay informed from TN. Barbie H.

Barbara H: She hasn't mentioned meeting anyone from a senior citizen's home. She did mention that the one on Bay St and about 24th bused everyone out of OC. Hard to give long distance care.

As to the rush, you ever see what salt water does if not cleaned off immediately??? I have a fridge full of food spoiling that could be saved with one pull on the starter cord on the generator. The city is causing me further damage by not letting me go back.

I agree with you Vicki B. Just because you see people on TV moving around doesn't mean they are the citizens of OC. They could be emergency management personnel checking out the situations. There are a lot of downed live electrical wires. Lets all please use common sense. God gave you patience as a virtue, use it wisely. Next time you don't evacuate could be your last time, the next storm could be much worse than this. Thank god no lives have been lost in Ocean City.

i wish contractors spent their energy trying to put up resilient houses, not make a quick buck - see th eporch railings, etc just pulling off the 'new' houses? new houses are not made well. they wont stand up to nature. thats why a contractor is concerned, he knows better...

I agree with the contractor's thinking- it's a summer home for us- we don't want to move back - just see where we are on replacements! I don't even care if they leave the electricity off! Just let us see and assess - do what we can and get contractors and insurance involved...

Gee Matt, there are thousands of houses that will be needing contractor services. How many contractors will be available for these thousands? You know damn well it will take many months or even years before many of these properties will be fixed. A couple of days will make NO difference. I like Marks assessment. Had contractors built these shore houses better many would have faired far better in this storm. I am sure they look forward to dealing with people like you!

Beaches were closed x 2 this summer due to sewage, response was "too many multifamily units, too many renters/tourists on the island. Now, sewer plant x 2 is down and no one is there. I see a pattern and a problem. LBI, Margate, Longport, Ventnor, do they have sewage issues? Not whining, stating facts.

yeah believe that and i have some property to sell you. i work for an insurance company so i can talk to that. i am not getting a warm fuzzy on this. we call this a "cat" (short for catastrophic). There will be lots of claims. not sure how many people will be "made whole" again, which is presumably the product insurers sell. personally, if i don't have big damage, i won't even file a claim because your claim history determines how likely they are to non-renew you (not offer insurance to you next year...shop around, you'll find something...for a price...)

Odd remarks about the insurance companies not paying because of 'claim history' or being 'made whole'. I worked for a large insurance company and anytime a CAT struck, we immediately either went to or sent claim reps to the scene (ex. Hurricane Andrew - CAT 5 much larger than Sandy) to 'cut' checks for our insured for living expenses, i.e. food, hotels, car rental, etc. Assessments were done quickly as soon as we were permitted near the damage in the Miami/Dade area. Our staff worked round the clock in horrible conditions to insure our clients were made whole as soon as possible. Colleagues from other insurance companies worked alongside us assisting their insured. I do not know which company Ms. Soto is employed by nor what her position within the company is, but I am willing to bet, if you are insured by a reliable company & have the proper coverage, you will be made whole.

I know I certainly would not purchase any insurance, let alone flood insurance from a company that will not 'renew' you based on your claim history, which by the way is against the law unless a claim(s) is found to be fraudulent. If your company does 'drop' you after you file a legitimate claim, file a complaint with NJ Dept of Banking & Insurance, Attorney General Office & Better Business Bureau. Trust me, the gov't offices enjoy investigating 'Bad Faith' insurance practices.

Tired of HIP- That happened to me once by State Farm after I and nearly 100 california neighbors when we had a catastrophic from straight line winds like the one that happened 7/29 here in Linwood. 20 years with State Farm no claims. One claim = non renewal. It also happened to my husband. 20 years no claims with Farmers, then the Oakland hills fire happened. We didn't even live in Oakland and had NO claims. They non renewed us because they thought the neighborhood was similar to Oakland (which it was not, it was a beach community called Santa Cruz). And my OC neighbor who's had his condo insurance thru Farmers of Salem just got non0-newed. I'm with Farmers of Salem also for condo. Do you think they are going to offer me a renewal when they already non-renewed the guy next door and that was BEFORE sandy? Now he's with an AM Best B-- company. And the cost of the policy skyrocketed for a less secure carrier. Comon, get real, don't drink the insurance comany kool-aid. We all know insurers (except Federal flood) are in it when they expect to make a profit and out when they think it'll be too risky. We are, after all, "for-profit" corporations. Just saying. But it has happened to me twice related to catastrophics so don't act like it doesn't happen. Yes these claims may be paid out. But see how long they'll keep us. Even those who don't file. We're all on the same island. Actually, given we've just had a hundred year storm, one might think we're a better risk!

friends with benefits. guess if you know the mayor you are allowed back in to salvage your house while the other poor unconnected residents must allow mold to grow (it happens if you dont remove drywall 12" above highest water mark within 72 hours). so since i can't get off work (work was closed today but I need to go in wed-thu-fri) my place is hosed. special interests at work even at a small scale...know a cop, know the mayor? you can save your home. the rest of you? hahahah

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

you are brave AND crazy! glad you are well! hope you didn't sustain too much damage, neighbor!

Is this for year round residents and 2nd homeowners?

Ashlea....I'm on 25th and Central....is that block okay also?

Would love to see pictures. We are on 23rd and haven.

Ashlea...can you email me please when you have a chance? stuntflyr1@gmail.com

if you what?

We have a place on 23rd, on the alley between Central and Asbury. Would also love to see the pics of that area.

Personal resposibility....are you freaking kidding me???????? I ask nothing of government other than to get out of the way. I'm very happy to take care of myself.

No Duffer I am not kidding you. You need to stay out until it is safe to return. Hysterical people is NOT what is needed in these disaster zones and no one likes government until they need something. But, I guess there's no convincing you. Good luck on your return. Try not to get in the way when you do!

Good luck to those that 'can take care' of themselves. Hope they never need to call a police officer, firemen or emergency services since they are not needed, the person is self sufficient. Amazing! Not sure how many lived in O.C. during the '62 storm but the devastation was huge. South End took a huge hit. We were not permitted back for weeks. Of course there were not cookie cutter duplexes side to side either. Back then, O.C. could open the three drawbridges and it was impossible to get on the island. Our family did not try, what was to be, was, the house & contents could be replaced.

Getting back on the island now to: Take care of spoiled food - what will you do with it? Doubt there will be trash pick-up for days. Pump water out of your home? To where? Back into the flooded street so the water slowly seeps back into the house?
Hire contractors? Doubt that there will be much work done until insurance companies send out folks to assess which might take awhile since other area's were hit much harder than OC. Why not let the City Authorities do their job and if you are unhappy about it, you can run for office next time around.

Warnings were issued early that the storm would be bad and mandatory evacuations were listed. If you have spoiled food, why didn't you remove the food prior to leaving? None of it makes sense unless there were a few who didn't know about the storm. Patience is a virtue. Lives are more important than spoiled food and stuff.

It's a shame that you feel uniformed and disappointed. How would you feel if something would have happened to you or your family had you not left town. You made the wise decision. The City is only looking out for the safety and welfare of all it's fine citizens. I hope you find your home undamaged. You should feel glad that you weren't there if this had been worse and someone would have been injured. A house can be rebuilt, and human life """PRICELESS"""!!!!

Really? How do you figure that? You pay more for your house than I did? You are not being punished. You are being kept safe. Whether you are a full time resident or not doesn't make you any more special. Owning home there is owning a home there.

Incidentally, it's the summer resident and tourist who keep that town's economy thriving.

You're not being punished, you're being protected. That you cannot see the difference is frightening. You have the same rights as any taxpayer, why should you be treated any differently? Or would you prefer a higher tax since you use public services more than a non-resident? I'll bet you would then be screaming to be treated equally.

This is frustrating for all so kindly let those elected to take care of you and the city do their job. FInd fault? Run for office yourself next election.

I think it's pathetic that full time residents think they should have more rights then other property owners. My children would love to be at our favorite place full time but we rent elsewhere to keep employed. but the home to them is their forever home and we plan to retire there after we get the kids to college. how sad of you to start drawing lines in the sand to make some sad children second class citizens because their parents have to work too far away to stay daily in their forever home...

Treated differently? Are you serious? Not too elitist are you? Our family has owned a home in OC for more than 50 years (have you?) and paid taxes whether we were there full-time or part-time.

How is anyone being punished? By being protected from possible harm and/or injury? Access your home immediately, why? It isn't going to change anything if it took on water or damage. You won't be able to fix it in an hour for goodness sake.

I am amazed at the selfish, self-centered people who feel they are more important than anyone else. Shameful and immature. If you feel uninformed, who's fault is that? No one's since the cable, internet, power were all out. Did you want a carrier pigeon to bring you the latest news? Oh wait, you probably expected that since you want to be treated differently than others. Tsk, tsk.

That is precisely the reason most of us who have lived/loved OC for many, many years, no longer enjoy it. The town has become a bunch of 'entitled' that feel they are better than others. What is that saying? Oh yes, nouveau riche. Can't buy class or dignity.

The City management deserves thanks for staying through the storm, working to make it safe for the residents to return and instead, some people feel they are special. Ugh!

pictures would be nice but i would rather they all focus on infrastructure & their own safety. our public people also need some rest.

AGREE! They drive around town, post photos...at least everyone w/internet access can see and feel like you know something instead of being kept in the dark unless you have police or political friends.

Amen to that Gabriella!

i agree with gabriella. as much as i'd like to get in and start cleanup i respect and admire the first responders. i just hate it when some people who know people are allowed to go salvage what they can while the rest of us unconnected poor folk just sit and wait. If it were that dangerous, why would a police officer let a well-connected friend into town into harm's way? it only makes sense that it is not THAT dangerous. i can see why they don't want all of us there clogging already messy roads. but to let some special friends in...well, political favoritism at its finest.

ed - you dont know the identities of those admitted - my sister is in the national guard but may travel in plain clothes...just relax enjoy your dinner and stop looking for injustice...esp about people who have been putting themselves in harms way for the last 4 days. give them some applause instead..

we are @ 1236 central. my neighbor just heard from realtor directly behind us on asbury. first floor tenant advises ground level realty office took on 6-8 inches of water. that would affect our ground floor garage/breezeway but not first floor. not sure how high your first floor is but any info is good info right now so trying to share what i know. all the best...

Maybe you should hire a helicoptor and fly over you home to take a look since you 'want answers'. You are not alone, most if not all homeowners want to know how their homes fared. The difference is, most of us will wait, thankful we are alive, knowing homes & contents can be replaced but lives cannot and that the City is working as fast as they can to make sure it is safe upon re-entering.

Hope your home is fine when you return.

Couldn't agree more Kissima!

Wondering, how do you know who went in and why they were allowed?

I don't but i know some got in. If it were that truly dangerous, why would they let ANYONE in? And I respect first responders are out there working hard and that the president is touring tomorrow...maybe they were secret service, who knows? I think if people had some more info they wouldnt be so frustrated. You can't know, they know but won't divulge, and you can't go in because it's too dangerous, but some people are going in...as usual, there are people who know people who get special treatment. All people want is info, not just to really go in. Avalon has a public info officer who drives the streets and posts photos so people at least know what they're up against. We know nothing. We are told nothing. I don't mind staying out of first responder's way...no problem. Just let us know the level of flooding block by block on the grid. that would be HUGE info to know. I read that they are letting busines owners in and contractors. Why? If it's horribly dangerous, they would be putting citizens at risk. So the truth is, it is NOT that dangerous, or they would not be letting ANYONE in.

Most folks are complaining that they are getting no information on their homes, yet information is out about 'connected' people getting onto the island. Unless you have proof, don't repeat rumors please. It is probably one of those "I know someone, who knows someone, who told someone, that so and so saw someone...." Goodness gracious!

Perhaps it was a city worker that so and so saw & then told so and so, etc. Maybe it was a Nat'l Guardsman in civvies going in to help. Perhaps it was one of our police officers or fireman going in. Maybe it was the Great Pumpkin going in to prepare for Halloween.