Asbury Park is a city in New Jersey, right on the Jersey shore. It is famous for its beaches, and regularly hits the ‘best beach’ list in the yearly top beaches contest. It’s a seaside community, with all that entails – great places to visit in the summertime, great seafood, tourism, and the threat of hurricanes.
Tropical Storms like David, Bertha, and Floyd have all recently impacted the Asbury Park area, with Floyd causing the most damage, in particular because of the heavy rains that started major flooding in many New Jersey towns. The Asbury Park area has been devastated more than once by hurricanes. One of the most powerful and destructive was a 1938 hurricane that nearly destroyed the area. It was a Category Four Hurricane that swept up through Delaware Bay into Cape May and followed a track along what is now the Garden State Parkway.
The storm was huge and strong, and caused high winds of more than 100 mph as far away as Philadelphia. If such a forceful storm with these far-reaching effects would hit today, it would strike a much more populous and developed area, and it would lay waste to it all. A recent insurance damage estimate of a major hurricane making landfall in the area of Asbury Park, New Jersey would cost approximately $56 billion dollars. That’s billions of dollars, not millions. Contrast that to Hurricane Andrew, a major storm, which caused $27 billion dollars in damage to South Florida and Louisiana.
If you live in the Asbury Park area, you would be prudent to prepare your home for storms. One of the best things that you can do for your home is to install storm shutters. Hurricane shutters should cover all glass windows, glass doors, and doors with partial glass, such as French doors. The major damage that is caused to homes during hurricanes is through entrances and egresses that are vulnerable to breakage. And once the storm enters your home, it causes great damage. It can precipitate pressure changes that can rip your home literally to shreds. Your roof could be ripped off, your walls could be torn off, with dangerous debris thrown at high speed like missiles.
The Atlantic is currently going through a very prolonged period of high activity, and it’s not a matter of if a major hurricane will hit Asbury Park, but when. In a recent meeting with emergency management officials, local and county leaders, the NOAA spokesman warned that a hurricane will happen in New Jersey.
Give yourself peace of mind, and install hurricane shutters on your Asbury Park home today. Protect your home and your family, and make sure that you are safe from the storms that are coming.
