"We don't have records of that berm, of when it was built and how it was built originally," he told

Less noticed was the enormous damage caused inland when a mile-and-a-half-long earthen barrier along and near the Hackensack River was breached, sending a tidal surge washing over parts of several towns, damaging hilton head island vacation rentals more than 2,000 homes and other buildings.
hilton head island vacation rentals Now attention is turning to what can be done to prevent similar river flooding in future storms, and townspeople and officials don't like what they are hearing - because no one seems to own the problem.
A major push is on to move New York City s electrical infrastructure to higher ground or upper floors after Superstorm Sandy sent seawater pouring into low-lying substations and skyscraper basements and plunged half of Manhattan into darkness for four days.
Sandy, the massive, multi-state storm that flooded tunnels in New York City, brought snow to the mountains of West Virginia, snarled early voting for the upcoming election and caused more than 8 million power outages, moved into Pennsylvania hilton head island vacation rentals and western New York on Tuesday and put the entire Northeast on heightened flooding alert.
We ve had two once-in-a-century storms within the span of a decade. Hurricane Sandy seems likely to be the second-costliest storm in U.S. history, behind Hurricane Katrina. Lower Manhattan is struggling to recover from an unprecedented flood and the New Jersey coast is smashed beyond recognition.
There s no clear answer to the raging scientific hilton head island vacation rentals debate over whether climate change, including record low levels of sea ice in the Arctic this summer, influenced Hurricane Sandy s path and intensity.
The Associated Press found little consensus among state and local agencies on the number of earthen barriers, or berms, who is responsible for maintaining them and whether they are, or were, even meant to provide flood protection.
The lack of answers has been particularly frustrating for Little Ferry Mayor Mauro Raguseo, who watched as 80 percent of his town flooded in the early morning hours of Oct. 29, forcing rescuers to take people out of their homes by boat. Flooding also severely damaged hilton head island vacation rentals the town's fire and police buildings in the town of about 10,700 residents and destroyed nine municipal vehicles.
hilton head island vacation rentals At a state Senate hearing in December, Raguseo called for an investigation into the berms and, more broadly, the flood control plan for the Meadowlands region, an area best known for being home to MetLife Stadium, where the New York Giants hilton head island vacation rentals and Jets play.
Easy answers haven't been forthcoming, starting with the 8,300-foot-long, 8.5-foot-high berm identified by Gov. Chris Christie in the chaotic first days after the storm as having failed in six places.
"We don't have records of that berm, of when it was built and how it was built originally," he told committee chairman Paul Sarlo. "It's not something the state keeps, it's not something we regulate. We regulate dams."
The berm actually was built in 2010 as part of a project that has turned a former dumping ground west of the New Jersey Turnpike and north of MetLife Stadium into a tidal wetland with vegetation and wildlife.
According to Andrew Derickson, vice president of Kane Mitigation LLC, the company that finished building the berm and is responsible for maintaining it, the berm was built primarily to control hilton head island vacation rentals the movement of tidewaters in and out of the wetlands area and not for flood protection.
hilton head island vacation rentals Compounding the confusion for flooded homeowners, dozens of berms of various lengths and heights dot the Hackensack, according to Tom Marturano, director of natural resources and solid waste for the Meadowlands Commission, the zoning and planning agency for the 30-square-mile area along the river. hilton head island vacation rentals The Meadowlands Commission and Conservation Trust share some staff and facilities but are separate entities.
Some of the berms are simple earthen barriers made by hand that date back more than 100 years and were built for mosquito control or agricultural purposes, Marturano said. No comprehensive record exists of who built them or when.
"The problem with any berm is the protection is only as good as the lowest spot," Marturano said. "If the berm had been 50 feet tall, the flooding would have been the same because the water would have come in all the other areas."
Going forward, it isn't clear who will take the lead on a comprehensive flood mitigation plan for the Hackensack region. hilton head island vacation rentals The DEP didn't hilton head island vacation rentals respond to a request for comments from Martin on what the department's role would be or whether the DEP would adjust its policy on regulating berms.
A spokesman for the Meadowlands Commission said that while the commission hilton head island vacation rentals has undertaken flood mitigation measures in the past, such as replacing tide gates and cleaning drainage ditches, it is "not responsible for floodplain management in the District."
"You'd end up losing so much land, losing so many homes and businesses," he said. "We're stuck with what we have and that's what it is. Hopefully, there'll be a long-term solution involving the Army Corps of Engineers ... and a big checkbook that hopefully will solve it."
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