surf club
Summer on hold for North Jerseyans struggling to rebuild their Shore homes
JULY 5, 2014, 11:52 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014, 11:57 PM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Almost two years after 2½ feet of stormwater surged into Michael Prezioso’s Ortley Beach vacation home, the place is still gutted and unusable. His flood insurance policy, Prezioso estimates, would cover only about 60 percent of the cost of repairing the house and replacing its contents.
In any case, he doesn’t want to spend anything on repairs until he can elevate the house — an expense, he says, he can’t afford.
DON SMITH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Clifton resident Michael Prezioso’s second home is at Ortley Beach. “It would cost me $200,000 to bring it back,” he said.
“I really don’t know what I’m doing,” said Prezioso, who lives in Clifton. “It would cost me $200,000 to bring it back. I’m in limbo right now.”
Like Prezioso, many North Jerseyans who own beach homes have had a difficult time since Superstorm Sandy slammed into the shoreline in the fall of 2012. Some have spent tens of thousands to repair their homes; others have been unable to afford repairs, and their homes are still out of use.
Owners of second homes understand that their losses don’t compare to the destruction or devastation of a primary home, which so many suffered in New Jersey. But many vacation-home owners have deep family ties to the Shore. They tell stories of childhoods spent crammed into their grandparents’ or parents’ bungalows and remember afternoons at the beach and evenings of miniature golf with their own children. They mourn the loss of those beach experiences and wonder when they’ll be able to return to their homes.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/summer-on-hold-for-north-jerseyans-struggling-to-rebuild-their-shore-homes-1.1046803#sthash.iPTfz54f.dpuf