Blizzard took its toll on N.J. beaches

Beaches in southern New Jersey sustained major beach erosion compared to those farther north in the state during the weekend's nor'easter and blizzard, officials said. Watch video

TRENTON -- Nearly a third of New Jersey's beaches were heavily damaged during the weekend blizzard and nor'easter, which attacked the southern shoreline with greater ferocity, state environmental officials said on Thursday.

Nineteen of New Jersey's 66 beaches stretching from the bay shore of the Atlantic Ocean to the shores of the Delaware Bay, sustained major erosion with the most dramatic sand losses seen in northern Ocean County, where a federal beach replenishment plan is under fire by some property owners.

Beaches in northern Ocean County and on Long Beach Island fared the worst during the storm, as did a few in Cape May and Atlantic counties, according a report released Thursday by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

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"For South Jersey, it was a significant northeaster event," said Bill Dixon, supervising environmental specialist for the DEP's bureau of coastal engineering. "The further south you went, the more severe it was."

That's why, in Bayshore area of Monmouth County and the ocean beaches there, damage was categorized as minor to moderate.

The most drastic losses of sand occurred in the Holgate section of Long Beach Township on Long Beach Island, where beaches dropped 12 to 15 feet in elevation, according to the survey.

That was followed by a 12-foot drop in elevation in a portion of the township's Brant Beach section, by a 10- to 15- foot drop-off in Brick and by an 8- to 10-foot elevation loss in Point Pleasant Beach and Bay Head.

Holgate's planned federal beach replenishment project for the winter was put on hold until the spring and the other towns with the most severe beach erosion have been targeted for beach replenishment, but the projects have been stalled because of opposition from some oceanfront property owners.

Nearly all of the beaches on Long Beach Island sustained major damage, with the exception of Barnegat Light and Ship Bottom, which were classified as having moderate erosion.

On Long Beach Island, it was Harvey Cedars, Surf City, Ship Bottom and portions of Long Beach Township to the Beach Haven border that have been replenished, yet Harvey Cedars and Surf City still sustained major erosion. Dixon said that's because the replenishment wasn't done in the neighboring towns.

"It should react differently once we complete Loveladies and North Beach," he said.

The storm exposed the entire 3.5-mile length of a steel wall constructed along the beach in Brick and Mantoloking after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 to prevent a washout of homes and Route 35 behind it. The nor'easter also eroded sand from the west side of the wall. Dixon said that was in an area where the wall was lower as it tapered off by design at the end.

In southern New Jersey, the hardest hit beaches were in Atlantic City, where elevation dropped anywhere from 2 to 8 feet; in Ocean City, which lost between 1 and 7 feet of sand depth; Sea Isle City, between 2 and 4 feet; and Avalon, Stone Harbor and North Wildwood, each losing between 3 and 5 feet in beach elevation.