STRATHMERE — “There needs to be a more permanent solution to the problem. We’ve got to do something different than what we’ve been doing,” Mayor Curtis Corson said last week after Upper Township experienced extensive erosion from the Columbus Day weekend nor’easter. “Pumping sand is a good first step but we have to figure out how to keep it there.”
The nor’easter slammed the coast Oct. 11-13, prompting New Jersey to declare a state of emergency amid heavy rain, strong winds and coastal flooding.
With winds gusting to 60 mph, as much as 5 inches of rain and pounding surf, the storm caused beach erosion in communities up and down the shore.
Upper Township declared its own state of emergency as the storm wiped out large swaths of beach in the north end of Strathmere, its island community to the south of Ocean City.
“We lost a tremendous amount of beach,” Corson said. “The dunes were breached in two blocks.”
Township Committee authorized a survey to determine just how much sand was lost. Entranceways are now blocked to prevent people from falling off the sheer scarps.
The township has a beach management plan that allows the Department of Public Works to move sand around following such storms, but Corson said “there’s no sand to move right now.”
Upper Township was part of a large-scale beach replenishment project at the beginning of 2025 and will not see any relief from that source.
Corson said Township Committee sent a resolution declaring a state of emergency to county, state and federal officials, hoping to bring awareness of the problem to those who may be able to help.
“Upper Township is currently experiencing critical and accelerating beach erosion, including significant dune loss, destruction of protective berms, damage to infrastructure and threat to both public and private property, placing the township in an emergency state of vulnerability ahead of the winter storm season,” the declaration states.
Following the storm, U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Cape May County resident, wrote a latter to the leadership of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“I request that the United States Army Corps of Engineers activate disaster recovery authorities under Public Law 84-99 to repair shore protection projects at the Jersey shore, in response to damages caused by Hurricane Erin and by the recent nor’easter over the weekend of Oct. 10-12,” Van Drew stated in the letter. “I request that you conduct these repairs using funds available in the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies account of the Disaster Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2025.”
In September, Hurricane Erin stayed well offshore on its path north past southern New Jersey, but its strong winds churned up the sea, pounding the shore and taking a large bite out of Garden State beaches.
At the time, Committeeman Sam Palombo, who is liaison to the Department of Public Works, provided an account of the storm’s effect on the Strathmere, where erosion is prevalent in the north end even on a good day.
The mayor said after the beach survey is completed, officials will meet with township engineers “to see if we can come up with any kind of plan,” noting that other southern New Jersey towns also experienced erosion from the nor’easter.
Following Hurricane Erin, township officials spoke with Leo “JoJo” Yodock Jr. of Yodock Simmons Construction & Environmental Solutions.
The national company based in Bloomsburg, Pa., specializes in water barrier technology to prevent coastal erosion.
“They have innovative water technology for barricades to basically control beach erosion,” Corson said at the time, noting they met in Strathmere and looked at the system.
Corson said the plastic W-shaped barriers, weighing in at 5,000 pounds apiece, are filled with sand slurry and anchored offshore “for the wave to hit and knock down the sand,” noting the system has been used off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico but never in the Atlantic Ocean.
Corson said the Department of Environmental Protection would have to be involved in the “stringent approval process” but that Yodock is interested in a pilot program for the alternative solution to beach replenishment.
“We’re looking at any and all options available to us,” Corson said.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff