Mayor says north-end homes remain vulnerable, south-end jetty suffered damage and city is documenting losses in hopes of unlocking federal assistance
BRIGANTINE — Federal officials are expected back in Brigantine this week to examine extensive damage from the weekend nor'easter as Mayor Vince Sera says the city is pushing for emergency beach replenishment, protection for threatened homes and the federal funding needed for a broader recovery.
Sera, speaking Tuesday on The Don Williams Show on News Talk 1400 and 92.3 WOND, said representatives from FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are expected to examine conditions in Brigantine later this week.
“Army Corps is actually going to be back in Brigantine with FEMA later this week, so Congressman Van Drew is bringing them down,” Sera said. “They want to take a good look at the damage that we've had and what they can do to help us.”
Subsequent reporting Wednesday said FEMA representatives are expected in Brigantine on Thursday to evaluate conditions, including the seawall.
The visit follows Gov. Mikie Sherrill's trip to Brigantine Tuesday, when she toured the battered shoreline with Sera and state environmental officials.
“We're really excited to have Governor Sherrill in Brigantine,” Sera said. “She wanted to come down and see the storm damage firsthand.”
The mayor said he spent about half an hour with Sherrill, including roughly 20 minutes speaking with her individually.
“I showed her the damage on the island. I showed her the beach erosion that we had, and we talked about that we needed an emergency beach replenishment,” Sera said.
Sera: 'We Need to Get Federal Emergency Money In'
The city is now documenting damage as officials determine whether the storm's losses are sufficient to support requests for federal disaster assistance.
“I think the big thing right now is we need to get federal emergency money in,” Sera said. “We were talking with the Governor also about a disaster declaration. That is what is needed in order to bring that federal money in.”
Sera said Brigantine's Office of Emergency Management and city engineer are documenting damage for submission as part of that process.
“Our OEM in Brigantine did an outstanding job through the storm, and she's out working right now to document all the damage along with our city engineer so that we can file those reports to try to get that declaration,” Sera said.
Sherrill said during her Tuesday visit that New Jersey had not yet requested federal assistance, but that doing so remained an option while damage assessments continued along the coast.
The governor subsequently ended the state of emergency covering Atlantic, Cape May and six other counties Tuesday evening, but said recovery work remains underway and specifically cited DEP's continuing efforts to address beach erosion.
North End Came Close to Much Worse Damage
Brigantine suffered severe beach and dune erosion, particularly around the northern end of the Promenade.
Sera said conditions during the storm became frighteningly close to allowing the ocean to reach farther inland.
“We were really concerned about the north end of the seawall breaching,” Sera said. “It came very, very close to dunes. You brought it back, and the only thing holding back the ocean was a private retention wall, and if that thing would have broke, we would have had a lot of damage on the island.”
The mayor said Brigantine is already working with U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew on a project to extend the Promenade approximately 275 feet north to provide additional protection to nearby homes.
But that project won't happen overnight.
“As it's moving through the federal process, it's very slow,” Sera said. “We need something temporary in the meantime to kind of protect those homes until we're able to extend our seawall and our promenade.”
Sera said the city will rely on DEP and Army Corps engineers to determine what temporary measures are feasible.
“There's a number of different things that we're looking at,” he said. “Every option is on the table, and we're going to really take their guidance and move forward, and they understand the severity of what's happening in Brigantine.”
Mayor Raises New Concern About South-End Jetty
While much of the public attention has focused on Brigantine's badly eroded north end, Sera said officials are also worried about conditions at the opposite end of the island.
“The jetty itself has settled, and the concrete that holds it together is really broken up, so the water is actually not just coming over the jetty, but coming through the jetty,” Sera said.
He said waves were rolling toward backyards along Ocean Drive West.
“We're concerned that we're going to lose some of those homes back there,” Sera said.
Sera relayed an account from the son of one homeowner who told him conditions became so frightening during the storm that his mother slept wearing a life jacket because of the water and breaking waves in her backyard.
“I don't want people to have to live that way,” Sera said.
Brigantine Has a Federal Emergency-Repair Precedent
Brigantine's northern beach isn't simply an ordinary municipal beach.
It is part of an existing federally authorized Army Corps Coastal Storm Risk Management project covering approximately 1.8 miles of the northern third of Brigantine. The engineered project includes a dune built to an elevation of 10 feet and a 100-foot-wide beach berm. Its latest periodic nourishment was completed in fall 2023.
That distinction could prove important.
Under Public Law 84-99, the Army Corps has authority to provide emergency assistance following coastal storms and to restore qualifying federal Coastal Storm Risk Management projects damaged or destroyed by such events. State assistance requests and federal eligibility requirements apply.
It is not yet known whether the weekend storm damage in Brigantine will qualify for that program, and neither Sera nor the state has announced such a determination.
But Brigantine has been down this road before.
Following damage from an October 2015 nor'easter and subsequent storms, the Army Corps awarded a $9.5 million contract in 2017 to repair Brigantine's federal dune and berm system. More than 730,000 cubic yards of sand were included in the project.
The Corps said the base repair contract was 100% federally funded through its Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies program.
That history provides a possible federal pathway as Brigantine seeks help following this storm, although another emergency restoration would require the applicable federal process and eligibility determination.
Sera Says Shore May Need Sand More Often
The mayor also raised a larger question about whether the traditional approach to beach replenishment can keep pace with the erosion now occurring along the Jersey Shore.
“Most towns used to be on a six- to eight-year replenishment cycle,” Sera said. “Now everybody's looking, they probably need a replenishment every three years.”
Sera said the Army Corps is studying whether greater use of hard structures — including jetties and wave breaks — could make more economic sense in some locations than repeatedly replacing sand.
“The Army Corps is doing a study, and they should be completing that study soon, to do a cost-benefit analysis of whether or not it makes sense to put hard structures in, or to actually do beach replenishments more frequently,” Sera said. “We're really eager to see what comes of that study.”
The Corps' current project schedule illustrates that the intervals already vary considerably by location. Brigantine's federal project lists a six-year periodic nourishment cycle, subject to funding, while the Absecon Island and northern Ocean City projects list three-year cycles.
Flooding Was Worst Since Sandy — But Homes Were Largely Spared
Despite the shoreline devastation, Sera said one part of Brigantine's storm defenses performed particularly well.
He described the flooding as the worst Brigantine had experienced since Superstorm Sandy but said years of work on pumps, bulkheads and flood gates helped keep much of that water out of buildings.
“The water that we had in Brigantine, the flooding was probably the worst we had since Sandy,” Sera said. “But one of the good things is that water stayed in the streets, and it didn't reach a level where it went into our homes or went into our businesses.”
Sera said the storm also gave engineers a new opportunity to identify remaining weak spots.
“This storm gave us a good gauge of where our vulnerabilities are now, and what work we can do to continue to improve Brigantine,” he said.
For now, however, the immediate focus remains on assessing what was lost and protecting the island before another coastal storm arrives.
And despite the damage, Sera stressed that Brigantine remains open.
“All of our businesses are open,” he said.
“Brigantine is open,” Sera added at the end of the interview. “Come on down, have a lot of fun, and it's a great island.”
Mayor Vince Sera spoke with Don Williams on The Don Williams Show on News Talk 1400 and 92.3 WOND. The Don Williams Show airs Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 a.m.
About the Author
Scott Stephens
Scott has been an on-air personality, producer and newscaster for 30+ years. He has been a mainstay in the South Jersey Community and on the air across many different area stations. Scott can currently be heard on Kool 98.3 and News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.
