"I was a lifeguard when I was in college and it was always - you'd see the dark clouds forming and it wasn't until you heard thunder that you could say 'okay, everybody out of the water', so rather than wait for that or a freak lighting strike, this should protect us." "One of the things I did - I was at the League of Municipalities (in Atlantic City), it was the first time I went down as a mayor and I was concerned because we had one lifeguard from South Seaside Park as you know last year was electrocuted from a lightning storm, so as I was walking around I saw a lightning protection system and the cost was about $30-35,000 and I thought this would be a good idea for the Ortley Beach area to put two sirens up and it supposedly notifies, I think it's 10-15 miles away, so you have a warning," Mayor Hill said. Yes, we're fighting Mother Nature and we realize we can't win that battle, but we can at least play it as a tie and hold the line on it." Following the tragedy on the beach in the South Seaside Park section of Berkeley Township last August that claimed the life of lifeguard, 19-year-old Keith Pinto, many Jersey Shore towns have been working on and implementing safety plans for the beach in the event of severe inclement weather. "Now, all those houses have all been rebuilt, so these dunes are doing what they're supposed to do. "The dunes are doing their job, first of all, yes, we lost a little bit of dune but I can remember before we had the dunes before Sandy came, and even after Sandy before the Army Corps came in - if we had a severe NorthEast storm, the waves were coming right up to the boardwalk and into the streets in some cases and when Sandy hit, we didn't have the dune so we lost not only the beach, but we lost private property," Mayor Hill said. While work still has to be done, there is still good protection on the beaches against any upcoming storms. "We need them back for next summer so that we have a decent size beach." "Our beaches are a little narrow, we've lost some sand since the last replenishment so we're hoping that the Army Corps of Engineers comes back in," Mayor Hill said. That beach was a private beach in the north portion of Toms River, in the Normandy section, but it was unprotected and there were no staff or lifeguards on for the beaches - so, everyone is safe and enjoy the beaches."īefore and now certainly after, there are continued awareness and education efforts ongoing to ensure everyone is adhering to beach safety rules and guidelines in Toms River - and beyond. Our Beach Patrol is taught that no bigger than a one and a half to two-foot hole for water to come up and kids to play in but please, please, please don't dig a hole and bury yourself in the sand because you may have trouble getting out and it was a tragedy that I think we could have avoided.
We lost a young man a couple of weeks ago.
"As we all learned - digging sand, digging too big a hole of sand can have tragic consequences.
"I have to stress again - beach safety and water safety as we go into the summer season, only swim when the lifeguards are on duty and in a protected area, don't swim outside the confines of where the flags are on the beach," Mayor Hill said.
Beach safety on the sand and in the water are always paramount but there are reminders for all heading to the sands in Toms River this summer.
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