ERNESTO DESTRUCTION PICS 1 HOUR AFTER STORM

[JerseyDigger29]

Hey, guys. I took a ride around the island this morning about one hour after the last rain clouds of Ernesto passed north of the Wildwoods. We faired pretty well considering this was only a tropical storm. I think they said the top gusts in Wildwood and Cape May area were somewhere around 62 miles an hour.

The experts said Ernesto was supposed to "Zig" but he decided to "Zag" instead, so the Wildwoods got hit a little harder than everyone had expected. Still, not too bad. To anyone who has never experienced a "Big one," multiply this by about 2 or 3 and then decide if evacuation is a good idea or not.

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took. A lot more will of course appear in Monday's TWR. As always, I wanted you guys to be the first to see them.

Thom

P.S. To the best of my knowledge - as of now - the reports of a condo tipping over in NW were inaccurate. It was actually a three story apartment house in Wildwood that was being renovated and raised up on risers to make it higher and to get it out of the flood waters. Unfortunately, their timing was slightly off and they hadn't anticipated Ernesto.

A few weeks ago, I had taken a pic of the building - one of Wildwood's oldest - as an example of the benefits of renovation over demolition. So now I have before and after shots.

[e-mail]
thewildwoodsreporter.com


This pic shows why there aren't more beach walks: they're too hard to keep replacing. The yellowish stuff mixed in with the debris is salt foam.

The Shalimar lost 2 or 3 of its palm trees.

The ocean came up all the way under the main boardwalk. No apparent damage to the rides but once again Wildwood's huge beach saved us.

A "before" shot of one of the Wildwoods' oldest apartment houses being raised up and renovated.

Apparently, Ernesto didn't care about renovation, he preferred demolition.

Park Boulevard after "minor" flooding. The water in this neighborhood during the 62 perfect storm was 8 feet deep. I know, I was raised two blocks north of this intersection.

I "think" these guys are lifeguards practicing, I'm not sure. Either way, I was extrememly lucky to get this great shot.

The Montego Bay lost something off the main boardwalk rooftop, don't know what. But it fell into the rear parking lot, took out a conduit along the edge of the roof, scraped the side wall, took out a hotel room window and some of the rain spouts.

This photo shows a closer view of the broken hotel room window and the scraping on the wall. I guess they were lucky the debris didn't take out the hotel wall itself.

[cutietnj]

Thanks Thom for sharing the pictures. I would to have been down there myself to see the storm. I hope the Shalimar fixes their palm trees - I thought they were cute when we stayed there.

[hulk007]

That pic of the apartment was interesting, I'm guessing the fact that it was raised up made it more prone to the heavy winds.

[Al Alven]

Phenomenal pics, Thom.

It's really a shame that that apartment building was lost, especially considering its age and the efforts to renovate it.

That storm of '62 must have been something. Were there any prominent stuctures that were completely destroyed during it?

[JerseyDigger29]

alalven said:

Phenomenal pics, Thom.

It's really a shame that that apartment building was lost, especially considering its age and the efforts to renovate it.

That storm of '62 must have been something. Were there any prominent stuctures that were completely destroyed during it?

Where the CVS sign is at 26th and Park used to be a big house. It completely uprooted and floated south to the corner of Magnolia and park.

And of course a lot of the boardwalk was messed up pretty good. Basically, that storm completely rearranged the coastline.

Thom

[fuzzyscorpio]

jerseydigger29 said:

P.S. To the best of my knowledge - as of now - the reports of a condo tipping over in NW were inaccurate. It was actually a three story apartment house in Wildwood that was being renovated and raised up on risers to make it higher and to get it out of the flood waters. Unfortunately, their timing was slightly off and they hadn't anticipated Ernesto.

Dangit. Sorry for the misinformation in the other thread on this--I should know better than to trust stupid television news.

I was really hoping that if property had to be lost, at least justice would be served by some rather striking exposure of the shoddy build quality of some of the newer condos. Oh well...

Thanks for your interesting and dramatic pix, Thom.

[dreamer2u]

wonder how the NEW SEA wall held up??? thanks for the pics!

[MMM]

Thanks Thom. Sorry to see this...

[wildwood6]

fuzzyscorpio said:

jerseydigger29 said:

P.S. To the best of my knowledge - as of now - the reports of a condo tipping over in NW were inaccurate. It was actually a three story apartment house in Wildwood that was being renovated and raised up on risers to make it higher and to get it out of the flood waters. Unfortunately, their timing was slightly off and they hadn't anticipated Ernesto.

Dangit. Sorry for the misinformation in the other thread on this--I should know better than to trust stupid television news.

I was really hoping that if property had to be lost, at least justice would be served by some rather striking exposure of the shoddy build quality of some of the newer condos. Oh well...

Why are you blaming the TV news? If YOU take a few minutes and actually read the article YOU posted it clearly states “Nearby, winds helped knock down a three-story condominium building under renovation”, not construction. As for the actually damage, looks like the newest motel on the island and a very old building were the only two buildings that received any type of major damage. As for the condos that are still standing. Sorry to disappoint you.

[fuzzyscorpio]

wildwood6 said:

fuzzyscorpio said:

Dangit. Sorry for the misinformation in the other thread on this--I should know better than to trust stupid television news.

I was really hoping that if property had to be lost, at least justice would be served by some rather striking exposure of the shoddy build quality of some of the newer condos. Oh well...

Why are you blaming the TV news? If YOU take a few minutes and actually read the article YOU posted it clearly states “Nearby, winds helped knock down a three-story condominium building under renovation”, not construction. As for the actually damage, looks like the newest motel on the island and a very old building were the only two buildings that received any type of major damage. As for the condos that are still standing. Sorry to disappoint you.

I'll address the facts and ignore your tone... this time.

The verbatim (quoted matter) that you posted from Channel 10's Web site is correct as of 1:30 pm today, Sunday, 9/3. But I posted that URL late on Friday, 9/1, and at that time, Channel 10's article said, as I quoted, that "a three story condominium under construction in North Wildwood" had fallen. If you take another look at the page at that URL, you will see at the top, "UPDATED: 6:54 pm EDT September 2, 2006." Here's the link again...

wcau.nbcweatherplus.com/weathernews/9435438/detail.html

The building, of course, is not in North Wildwood, and the updated copy doesn't say that anymore--they weasel out by referring to it as "nearby" after talking about the damage to the Montego Bay. But they still call this thing a "condominium," and I've seen nothing to indicate that this little 100-year-old, single entry house is a condo. So it looks like Channel 10 is still wrong, and by the time they get it right no one will care anymore--a typical TV news scenario... The Cape May County Herald story on it--as of this minute --refers to it as a "house" in the headline and a "three-story home" in the body.

www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/articles/1785/1/BREAKING-NEWS---HOUSE-FALLS-TO-RUINS---9.2.2006

[wildwood6]

fuzzyscorpio said:

wildwood6 said:

Why are you blaming the TV news? If YOU take a few minutes and actually read the article YOU posted it clearly states “Nearby, winds helped knock down a three-story condominium building under renovation”, not construction. As for the actually damage, looks like the newest motel on the island and a very old building were the only two buildings that received any type of major damage. As for the condos that are still standing. Sorry to disappoint you.

I'll address the facts and ignore your tone... this time.

The verbatim (quoted matter) that you posted from Channel 10's Web site is correct as of 1:30 pm today, Sunday, 9/3. But I posted that URL late on Friday, 9/1, and at that time, Channel 10's article said, as I quoted, that "a three story condominium under construction in North Wildwood" had fallen. If you take another look at the page at that URL, you will see at the top, "UPDATED: 6:54 pm EDT September 2, 2006." Here's the link again...

wcau.nbcweatherplus.com/weathernews/9435438/detail.html

The building, of course, is not in North Wildwood, and the updated copy doesn't say that anymore--they weasel out by referring to it as "nearby" after talking about the damage to the Montego Bay. But they still call this thing a "condominium," and I've seen nothing to indicate that this little 100-year-old, single entry house is a condo. So it looks like Channel 10 is still wrong, and by the time they get it right no one will care anymore--a typical TV news scenario... The Cape May County Herald story on it--as of this minute --refers to it as a "house" in the headline and a "three-story home" in the body.

www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/articles/1785/1/BREAKING-NEWS---HOUSE-FALLS-TO-RUINS---9.2.2006

The news article you are referring to never changed. The word renovation was in the original article. As for the property that was unfortunately destroyed. It was an old three story home that was in the process of being converted to three condos. Again, sorry to disappoint you.

As for the shoddy condo construction that you speak of. Could you please give me a few examples. A friend and I are going to take advantage of the slow market and will be purchasing one or two more condos. Since you have knowledge of shoddy construction, that information could be helpful in our search.

[Doowopper]

Last summer we were there during a thunderstorm, one brand new (not even bought yet) condo had most of the (fake) stonework ripped off their chimney. Face it, nothing is built as good today as it used to. My grandparents 51 y/o house is build out of marine plywood, that's good, solid construction. Most new homes are built out of cheapo pressboard and slapped together in a couple weeks. That's bad enough, but when your near the ocean it's even worse.

[Crippled_Visions]

wildwood6 said:

fuzzyscorpio said:

I'll address the facts and ignore your tone... this time.

The verbatim (quoted matter) that you posted from Channel 10's Web site is correct as of 1:30 pm today, Sunday, 9/3. But I posted that URL late on Friday, 9/1, and at that time, Channel 10's article said, as I quoted, that "a three story condominium under construction in North Wildwood" had fallen. If you take another look at the page at that URL, you will see at the top, "UPDATED: 6:54 pm EDT September 2, 2006." Here's the link again...

wcau.nbcweatherplus.com/weathernews/9435438/detail.html

The building, of course, is not in North Wildwood, and the updated copy doesn't say that anymore--they weasel out by referring to it as "nearby" after talking about the damage to the Montego Bay. But they still call this thing a "condominium," and I've seen nothing to indicate that this little 100-year-old, single entry house is a condo. So it looks like Channel 10 is still wrong, and by the time they get it right no one will care anymore--a typical TV news scenario... The Cape May County Herald story on it--as of this minute --refers to it as a "house" in the headline and a "three-story home" in the body.

www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/articles/1785/1/BREAKING-NEWS---HOUSE-FALLS-TO-RUINS---9.2.2006

The news article you are referring to never changed. The word renovation was in the original article. As for the property that was unfortunately destroyed. It was an old three story home that was in the process of being converted to three condos. Again, sorry to disappoint you.

As for the shoddy condo construction that you speak of. Could you please give me a few examples. A friend and I are going to take advantage of the slow market and will be purchasing one or two more condos. Since you have knowledge of shoddy construction, that information could be helpful in our search.

I've seen many drooping soffits on the new condo construction. Also, many of the new condos have shoddy trim and columns on the outside. It looks like poor workmanship to me.

[fuzzyscorpio]

wildwood6 said:

The news article you are referring to never changed.

Oh, for godsake... now you're just fighting dirty. How can you say "the news article you are referring to never changed" when the page at the URL I posted on Sept. 1 now says "Updated Sept 2"? The reference to Route 47 being closed is also missing. The story has been completely rewritten--as is common on news Web sites, and as I said, I should have known better than to just post the URL--but it was a passing bit of breaking news that, though unfortunate, did not seem to warrant the bandwidth of a lengthy quote.

The word renovation was in the original article.

I believe I quoted it correctly, but it's your word against mine (see above re: lesson learned...) and I'll expend no further energy on this.

As for the property that was unfortunately destroyed. It was an old three story home that was in the process of being converted to three condos. Again, sorry to disappoint you.

<sigh> I have nothing against condos in the abstract...

As for the shoddy condo construction that you speak of. Could you please give me a few examples. A friend and I are going to take advantage of the slow market and will be purchasing one or two more condos. Since you have knowledge of shoddy construction, that information could be helpful in our search.

You cannot be serious, as Johnny Mac used to say Even if I knew exactly which condos were made out of cardboard I wouldn't put myself in legal jeopardy by naming their names on the Internet. No, I don't have direct knowledge of shoddy construction in the Wildwoods, but there have been many allegations of it, here and elsewhere, most of them quite plausible. So I'm rumor mongering, okay? Happy now? Very few people get to have direct knowledge of shoddy construction anywhere--you're not supposed to know about it until it falls on your head or blows up . I think there are a few people in this forum who do have direct knowledge, but they're probably not going to tell you, either.

A friend of mine who has worked in construction a little bit thinks almost everything built in this country after about 1960 is way below the pre-WWII standards of safety, durability and aesthetics. I agree with him. I live in a 1922 apartment building that is like a rock. Lately I've been looking into buying a single family home, and when possible, I configure my searches so they don't even show me anything built after 1955. I am skeptical of ALL new construction, let alone construction that comes in opportunistic, hasty spurts like the one we've seen in the Wildwoods since '02. Good luck.

[wildwanderer]

Wow!! great pics.