Port Monmouth Flood Control Will Shield Bayshore From Future Storms

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On the tenth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, Gov. Phil Murphy toured the Port Monmouth Flood Risk Management project Friday afternoon.

This is the $265-million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project meant to protect coastal Middletown — Port Monmouth, Belford and Leonardo — from Raritan Bay storm surge.

The Port Monmouth project was actually "in the works" for about 20 years, but officially got the green light for federal funding after Middletown suffered tremendous damage in Sandy.

"A decade ago tomorrow, our state experienced the greatest natural disaster in its history," said the governor. “Today, we remember the at least 35 lives lost directly caused by the storm, the more than 300,000 destroyed properties and the nearly 3 million residents without power for days."

In total, approximately 350 Middletown homes had to be elevated or rebuilt after Sandy hit on October 29, 2012.

“Sandy placed almost four feet of water in my house and six feet in my cellar, and we lost our heating, electric, food and personal items,” said 82-year Port Monmouth resident Charles Rogers.

According to Township administrator Tony Mercantante, 305 Middletown homes were determined to be “substantially damaged” post-Sandy, meaning that the cost for repairing a flood-damaged structure was greater than 50 percent of the home's value.

Included in this total were 40 age-restricted affordable units that were located at Shoal Harbor Village in Port Monmouth. Most of the streets north of Rt. 36 in Port Monmouth, Belford, and Leonardo were flooded in Sandy (between 40-50 streets).

All of Middletown lost power in the peak of the storm.

For some Middletown residents, the electricity stayed out for 3-4 days. But other parts of the township were out for a full two weeks and a small number even more, recalled Mercantante.

What's being built at Port Monmouth is used as a model across the Bayshore and Jersey Shore:

• The U.S. Army will next begin building a series of levees, floodwalls, tides gates and pump stations in Union Beach, with construction scheduled to begin in March 2023.
• Design is also currently underway for a similar project in the borough of Highlands. The Army Corps and the DEP are working with the community to install floodwall, levees, pump station, road closure gate and interior drainage. This project is estimated to cost about $198 million.

Here's the work that's already been done at Port Monmouth. Learn more from the Township about the project here: https://www.middletownnj.org/5...

• Building up and widening the shoreline along Sandy Hook Bay by replenishing sand and constructing a new stone groin perpendicular to the shoreline. Groins are long, thin structures extending out from shore that interrupt along-shore water flow, limit sand movement, prevent beach erosion and increase resiliency.
• Constructing a mile-and-a-half-long, 15-foot-high protective dune to provide a natural barrier to the destructive forces of wind and waves.
• Adding 195 feet to a local fishing pier for expanded recreational use by the community.

The Port Monmouth Flood Risk Management project is scheduled to be entirely completed in 2023.