Wildwood officials inspect massive destruction of beach after days of rain, wind

NORTH WILDWOOD N.J. - The sunny day finally gave people down the shore the chance to check out any damage and start the clean-up process, after several days of rain and flooding.

The mayor of North Wildwood, New Jersey is calling on state and federal governments to fulfill what he calls their "legal and moral" obligation to approve a beach replenishment project along the dune at the end of 15th Street.

The dune was lashed in the early-week storm causing what city engineer, Jim Verna, describes as "massive damage" and making the dune vulnerable to a breach, endangering what he said is, "…millions of dollars in private and public infrastructure damage."

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Verna, wearing a blazer and sunglasses, walked the wounded dune surveying the damage in the early afternoon. He said, "We didn’t lose the entire dune in the storm, but we’re approaching 2-million cubic yards of sand to restore it back to its engineered design."

North Wildwood’s mayor told FOX 29’s Jeff Cole the community will spend $800,000 to buy and install a metal bulkhead to keep back the ocean from the headquarters of the beach and hotels and commercial properties just beyond it. Mayor Patrick Rosenello said the state and federal government promised a dredging project to pump sand back onto the beach years ago. But, it hasn’t happened. He’s renewed his call for that promise to be kept.

On a brilliant fall day, beachgoers roamed the warm sand and gazed at the wounded dune. Nicolette Griffin strolled the beach with her 2-year-old Franke, who stopped her mom to pick up the pretty stones. Griffin said, "I come to this beach every summer and I plan on coming here every summer forever. So I definitely think the cost of dune repairs is worth it and everyone who comes here, I think, would feel the same way."