Demolition begins for symbol of Sandy's wrath

MANTOLOKING Another of the defining images of Superstorm Sandys destruction at the Jersey shore is disappearing as the state cleans up and struggles toward normalcy.

Works crews on Thursday began demolishing a house in the tiny town of Mantoloking that was washed into Barnegat Bay by the violent surge from the Oct. 29 storm. It was one of eight virtually intact homes that the storm washed into bays around the state, including four in Cumberland County; work on removing the others will begin soon.

But the house in Montoloking owned by David Roberts, a former mayor of Hoboken, was the most famous of them all, coming to rest 200 feet from shore in the middle of the bay. His house once sat not far from where the ocean cut a new channel that chopped the town in half during the storm, necessitating a massive emergency construction project to fill in the breach.

Today one of the unfortunate icons of Mantoloking and Superstorm Sandy is going to be dismantled, Mayor George Nebel said, moments before workers on several barges began tearing away at the house and depositing rubble on their vessels, to be floated away and eventually trucked to a landfill. During the storm, if we were standing where we are today, we would be standing in 12 feet of water. We hope this state will never withstand the sight of a house in the bay again.

Mantoloking was the hardest-hit Jersey shore community during Sandy; all 521 of its homes were damaged or destroyed, including 58 that were swept into Barnegat Bay, either whole or in pieces.

Demolition work on 50 houses damaged too badly to save should begin next week.

Robert Martin, New Jerseys environmental protection commissioner, called the demolition of the Roberts house an important day in the recovery of this state.

Two other virtually intact homes were washed into Barnegat Bay in Mantoloking, and one in Union Beach, a hard-hit blue collar enclave in Monmouth County, was washed into Raritan Bay. Four others in Lawrence Township wound up in Delaware Bay, virtually intact, Martin said. Those remaining houses should be removed from waterways within the next few weeks, the commissioner said.

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These homes, just like the Jet Star roller coaster swept off Casino Pier and sitting in the ocean off Seaside Heights, have become iconic images of just how powerful and devastating Sandy was and how this historic storm changed so many lives, Martin said. The removal of these homes marks a symbolic benchmark in the progress weve made as New Jersey moves into a new phase of long-term recovery and rebuilding.

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Demolition begins for symbol of Sandy's wrath