Shore braces for a storm, A.C. says come on down

ATLANTIC CITY - Most Jersey Shore towns were making emergency preparations Friday for the arrival of a massive winter storm, bolstering sand dunes and moving equipment to higher ground, and in some cases declaring mandatory or voluntary evacuations.

Atlantic City was carrying out similar precautions, but Mayor Don Guardian also invited tourists to not cancel weekend plans if they were already headed to his "party town."

"Atlantic City's casino hotels were built to withstand hurricanes, and they have their own generators . . . so if you're going to be hunkered down in a storm, it might as well be in a beautiful hotel in Atlantic City," Guardian said during a Friday news conference at City Hall. Guardian and public safety officials discussed measures put into place to ensure the safety of Atlantic City's 40,000 residents, workers, and 100,000 expected weekend visitors.

Guardian's pitch seemed to be opposite of what officials elsewhere at the Shore were telling the public: Stay home.

Guardian did not call for a state of emergency in Atlantic City. There were concerns about the low temperatures affecting the city's homeless population, and Guardian did issue a "code blue." That meant that anyone staying in the Atlantic City Rescue Mission overnight would be kept inside for the duration of the storm rather than sent outside during the day, as usual.

He said that as many as 30 "high water" trucks were in place to assist with rescues if needed in a storm that was expected to pack sustained winds of as high as 60 m.p.h.

Officials up and down the 127-mile coast said they feared tidal flooding and substantial beach erosion.

Most officials in Cape May, Ocean, and Atlantic Counties said they were taking no chances.

But only one town, Barnegat Township, a bay front Ocean County municipality, ordered evacuations for a "handful" of residents along a particularly flood-prone area of the mainland community. Voluntary evacuations were issued for residents in low-lying areas of Brick, Toms River, Seaside Park, and Berkeley Townships in Ocean County.

The most serious concerns about the storm's impact centered on the times of high tide - around 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday in Atlantic City - and sustained winds and possible flooding along the back bays and beach fronts in Atlantic, Cape May, and Ocean Counties. Officials in parts of Cumberland County also reported concerns of flooding along the Delaware Bay shoreline.

The combination of a powerful storm system, a full moon, and high tides at what is expected to be the gale's height worried officials most.

"As always, we are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst," said Diane F. Wieland, a spokeswoman for Cape May County's Office of Emergency Management.

Wieland said numerous meetings between Cape May County emergency personnel and local authorities had been held over the previous three days to brief officials on everything from procedures for possible evacuations to services available to move and shelter storm victims.

In some barrier-island towns, including Ocean City and Sea Isle City, officials directed municipal workers to use front-end loaders and bulldozers to move sand, to shore up dunes that would help stem the wave action from kicked-up surf that could flood and damage coastal properties and infrastructure.

"There's certainly a lot to be concerned about," said Linda Gilmore, Atlantic County's public information officer. "Saturday is really the day we are most concerned about. It's a big storm with a lot of potential for problems here."

In Ocean County, the sentiment was the same.

"We are ready for this storm because we've had so much advance warning about it," said Rich Peterson, a spokesman for Ocean County. "We are an oceanfront county, so we are used to it. That doesn't mean that we don't take storms like this seriously, but ultimately, we are well-prepared for it."

The Cape May-Lewes Ferry canceled service for Saturday and expected to resume normal operations Sunday, according to the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which operates the ferry. A number of events, including the Bay Atlantic Symphony concert scheduled for Sunday at Stockton University, were canceled.

Dolores Rizzoli, 57, of Ocean City, said she was "getting as prepared as possible" for the storm. She found herself at the Somers Point Acme Market on Friday, laying in some last minute supplies, including batteries, flashlights, and a carful of food.

"Since it's so cold out, my biggest worry is a power outage, which is what usually happens when we get a storm," Rizzoli said. "But once you live through something like Sandy, storms like this, you kind of have to take in stride if you are going to live at the Shore. . . . I guess it's the price we pay to live here."

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