PHOTOS: Hurricane Sandy’s Destruction at the Shore, Four Months Later

"There used to be a house there."

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It has been nearly four months since the storm commonly known as Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey’s shoreline. And even though Sandy was not, in fact, a hurricane by the time it ripped into the Jersey Shore, the damage it caused was widespread and severe.

Some beaches and roads remain closed, and many residents will never recover their losses. I took a ride through some of the hardest hit areas last weekend with Walter LaCicero, the Mayor of Lavallette, who said time and time again, “There used to be a house there.” Here, some photos from our trip.



A house in Ortley Beach.



Houses in Lavallette. “Compared to some places, we made out pretty good,” says Mayor LaCicero, whose own house was minimally damaged.



A house in the water in Mantoloking. Photo taken from the Mantoloking Bridge. A major stretch of Route 35 near here was closed until February 1st.



These homes are on the beach in an area known as Camp Osborn in Brick. Multiple fires erupted here due to gas explosions. “It was like the Kuwait oil fields,” says the Mayor. “Fires everywhere.” The rippling in the siding of the brown house was caused by the heat of the fire.



Ocean Avenue in Belmar is still closed.



The sights in Manasquan are eerie. It’s virtually deserted, and some of the homes–like this one–are marked with an “X,” while others are marked with a slash. By the look of things, I’m guessing an X is worse.



Thousands of homes at the Jersey Shore will have to be lifted thanks to new federal regulations.



A dead end at Route 35 and 9th Avenue in Ortley Beach.



Don’t worry, the Jersey Shore house (yes, as in Snooki) is still standing in Seaside Heights.



A debris field on Deal Beach, adjacent to the Deal Casino.



A doll on the beach in Lavallette.



The Beachcomber in Seaside Heights is operational. But there’s no draft beer, since the beer box is on the lower level. “It was the bar’s one main casualty,” explained the bartender.



This trash pile just outside of the Beachcomber was one of many I encountered on my trip.

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