http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/sandy/post-storm-photos/obliquephotos.html
 
Before and after photos of the storm damage.
 
L13

For many years, I chased the striper migration in the fall. At this time of year, a trip to Island Beach State Park in NJ was usually in the cards. There's a wonderful bait and tackle place with a 24 hr. diner attached that was a must stop in the town of Beach Haven.  Having great food at 3 am in the company of happy  fishermen was a cool thing.  It was flooded and they're mucking out the building, but at least  it survived. The park is closed and the water is still murky.  With the crowds on the river  starting to persist into T-giving and beyond , it was a viable option for me. Not this year.   I've got fond memories of watching stripers bust poppers stripped in the surf  alongside  the Sea Bright pier.  The pier's gone, and the structure it created, too. I may go next year if things are rebuilt enough.  Having grown up in NJ, your life was/is always impacted by the shore. Everyone goes there, some of my earliest fishing was there. Ask Dime.  Climate change sucks.

In regard to 'climate change' yea, there is some but then whats natural as opposed to what are WE causing??? ( agree we aint helping)
     A number of years back- before  Al Gore even started, back when the Science Community was still saying we were headed to another Ice Age- there was a big storm.
 This storm caused erosion on the New England beaches and some very ancient Indian fishing camps were exposed.
   Of course Science  rushed to investigate before the tides covered the sites again with sand.
    They  observed that wood being burned in the ancient ( 600 yrs or so) fire pits was that of a bush only found in far northern lands - not far from the tree line.  
     This particular  growth has long since disappeared from the New England lands and exists in colder more Northern  climates.
   Would seem that things have been changing for a long time before the Industrial Revolution and huge populations we now have.
    Are we causing more rapid change- perhaps - but its nothing new.

Gotta throw another out here.
    There are shells on the deserts of  Northern Africa and Oil deposits caused by  Jungles underneath. Science wanted to know when this drastic climate change happened.
  Since the wind blows the sands, seeds and other  telltale indicators out to Sea they went out to Sea and drilled deep borrings to establish the time between the Jungle and  the Desert.
  They were shocked to find that about every 20,000 years there is a shift between lush jungle and barren Desert with  waterways arriving during  the Jungle periods.
  Seems that this has happened time and time again over many hundreds of  thousands of years.
  Natural climate changes------.
  Cannot recall if  20,000 is the opposite timetable or the gross of both extremes. If its the opposite then the gross change would take 40,000 years.
  Too bad cause I would have liked to see the change-lol.

That's all very interesting. I'll stick with climate change sucks.  I don't have a doctorate in  meteorology , paleontology or biology, I'm more interested in the impact on the poor suckers who  just got hammered.  Just inland from the devastated Jersey Coast is a unique biological interface  zone called the Pine Barrens that is the northern and southern terminus of many plant species.
 If your home was floated pretty much into the pine barrens you'd find that factoid fascinating, I'm sure.

Trevor, i too have heard about that 20,000 year mark as well...

Charlie, where did all the pineys go???

Pine barrens and surrounding areas are beautiful...
unfortunately in the 90's and early 2000's there was a lot of development throughout that region... i have some piney relatives and have spent much time all throughout that region....i would assume the docks i used to pull drop lines off of for crabs are demolished... id hate to see what has become of that area. I feel horrible for the locals down there

Charlie __ I agree and truly feel bad for all those folks.
   However- If one builds a home along the shoreline or even a nearby spot only a coupla feet above sea level or along the 'Old Miss' or near  any tidal waters or places that flood in big waters, or on those hillsides in Cal. that wash out now and then  or in a Gulf City that lies below  sea level ,ya kinda gotta have a bit of a common sense hint when ya move there that somedayyyy--
 About as sure fire safe a living off the end or an Airport runway--
   Its about time govt stopped worrying bout tax income and stops giving building permits in those kind of places and that folks give it a second thought before even applying. Some places are an accident waiting to happen and it dont take Einstein to know where.

Locally we have the Delaware River that floods every couple years and the same people trying to rebuild after every flood and crying how they lost everything,will they ever learn?
30yrs ago I remember visiting Long Beach Island and noticeing the ocean on one side and the bay on the other side with not much land separating the two waters.I thought boy some day this is going to get wiped out by a storm,it took awhile but it was inevitable.
I feel bad for those affected but they took the risk so now they have to move on.

Dr. Doug Wilcox is the coastal specialist who did a lot of the work on the Lake Ontario water levels plans that have been proposed in the last few years.  He did a cartoon for the folks on any river that want to be too close to the water.  In the first frame is a pix of a house on the ground with the caption, "Here's your house on the floodplain."  In the second frame the house has water halfway up the windows, things are floating by, and the caption reads "Here's the floodplain on your house! Any questions?"  I'm with retired, you buy your own insurance after one rebuild, or better yet, Don't build on the floodplain to begin with!
 
Did anyone actually check the photos?  There are a lot of them, if you know where your spot is on the map, you should be able to zoom in and see before and after pix.  I checked the Montauk Lighthouse, and it is amazing the detail you can pick out in the zooms.  No damage there, but it was built fore that stuff.
 
As to the salt being unfishable, most of the plates this past Saturday were Jersey and Conn, and one Connecticutter we spoke with at the Pineville Hole said he was only up there because there was no salt this year.  It will be crowded until the snow makes travel difficult (possibly this Saturday!)
 
L13   

Sorry but I have not looked at the link...
 I seen enough long ago to know that folks are in trouble and the devastation that happened.. I have friends in Long Island and Manhattan.. Things are ok for them but not for others in the area.. Nothing is as normal
 
I really have no clue about the I told you so theory..
I take risks everyday of my life and when I screw up I own up..
These folks did not cause the devastation, they did not screw up,
they are victims in my eyes..
I know many local people who donated their time and myself donate to the Red Cross to somehow help folks put their lives back together again.
I only wish the same in return if I'm in dire straits.. Ya know, people helping others..
 
Thats what it's about for me..