OCEAN CITY – Jay Gillian was among a number of mayors planning to meet Tuesday with U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew over funding for beach replenishment after high tides from Hurricane Erin washed away sand in South Jersey communities.
Erin was reportedly the biggest hurricane to come so close to landfall other than 2012’s Sandy, that wrought severe destruction along the East Coast. Unlike Sandy, Erin turned out to sea, but according to Gillian brought the highest tides – three feet higher than normal – that Ocean City has experienced in the past seven years.
He said the city hadn’t seen that since a nor’easter in 2018.
The tides took a toll in the north end of the island, washing away dunes and hitting particularly hard between the Ocean City Music Pier and Fifth Street.
Ocean City is in line for a beach replenishment project for the north end in 2026, but there has been fear funding could be cut as the Trump Administration has been reducing funding and terminating contracts in many places in the government.
Ocean City signed a 50-year deal with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for beach replenishment in the 1990s for the north end and another one for the south end a few years after Sandy hit. The replenishments are done every three years with the federal government picking up the lion’s share of the cost and the state the next largest portion with the municipality covering the rest.
– STORY and PHOTO by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff