As if Rumson didn’t already have enough wires down from Tropical Storm Irene, a cement truck took down some more on Ridge Road at Kemp Avenue around noon Wednesday. No electrical wires were involved, however, and police quickly cleared the scene.
A beginner gets acclimated with the water at last year’s inaugural Paddle the Navesink Day. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
Red Bank has its share of river-themed events. There’s Riverfest in June, a three-day bonanza of food and entertainment. There’s Kaboom Fireworks on the Navesink, one the nation’s largest pyrotechnics shows. Rowing and sailing regattas dot the calendar three seasons of the year, and there’s even the occasional iceboat race.
But only Paddle the Navesink Day encourages visitors who have no affiliation with boating clubs to actually get out onto, and into, our beautiful Navesink River in myriad ways, to satisfy myriad curiosities.
“Many people know about Red Bank, the shopping and dining, but they know very little about the water,” said Linda Ensor, who as part of Navesink River Rowing Club helps organize Paddle Day. “The Navesink River is really a gem, and it’s a very, very diverse body of water.”
After a hurricane-induced sputtering start, the eight-day Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair enters the home stretch Wednesday night with with an outlook of uninterrupted fun, food and pleasant weather.
The National Weather Service forecasts sunshiney days Wednesday through Saturday, with cool, moisture-free nights through Friday, and a 30-percent chance of rain on the fair’s final night Saturday.
Were you there Tuesday night? Check out the redbankgreen slideshow after the jump…
Recent activity reports, unedited, as provided by the Middletown Township Police Department.
On August 28, 2011 at approximately 1:55 pm Patrolman Carl Roth and Patrolman Anthony Gigante responded to area of Orchard Avenue in Belford in reference to a report of a neighborhood dispute. The officers were conducting their investigation when one of the involved subjects, identified as Christopher Melchionna, age 28, from Orchard Avenue in Belford, NJ, began to yell and scream obscenities.
Vacant for the past year, the corner building on Broad Street has a new tenant. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The three-story space formerly home to Ashes Cigar Bar in Red Bank is about to get some of its sizzle back.
After a year of vacancy, the building at the corner of Broad and Mechanic streets has a new tenant, Char Steakhouse. An ill-kept but unconfirmed secret in town for weeks, the acknowledgement came Monday, when signs appeared in the windows of the vacant space to alert passersby.
Building owner Jack Anderson of Jack’s Music Shoppe across Broad Street also confirmed the deal, and said he is in the process of obtaining borough government approval to sell Char the liquor license he bought from the now defunct Little Kraut restaurant on Bridge Avenue.
A downed tree and electrical lines had First Street in Rumson blocked off 48 hours after the storm. Below, a sign on the locked doors of Trader Joe’s in Shrewsbury. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Electrical power was restored at Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre’s home late Monday night, about 12 hours after he bought a mobile generator.
But he’s still still in the dark about when the lights will be on in the parts of his town that still don’t have power, he said.
Progress that had been made over the last two years in repairing strained relations between the town and First Energy subsidiary Jersey Central Power & Light “seems to have been completely undone,” as the utility company has failed to keep officials informed about efforts to restore power in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, Halfacre said.
“I have found it incredibly frustrating dealing with JCP&L,” Halfacre tells redbankgreen. “There’s been a complete lack of substantive information.”
The crime reports below were provided by the Red Bank Police Department for the period of August 19 to August 26, 2011. This information is unedited.
Theft occurring at Maple Ave-Restaurant on 8-20-11. Victim reported that unknown person(s) stole cash from purse. Lt. Michael Clay
Attempted burglary occurring on 8-22-11 at Shrewsbury Ave. Victim reported seeing a black male subject (unknown) trying to pry the door open on side of building, along with two other black males standing by. Upon seeing the victim, subjects fled. Ptl. Michael Zadlock.
Braced for the worst, and recalling the devastation caused by the northeaster of 1992, the borough of Sea Bright evacuated all residents in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Irene Saturday. Even emergency personnel were ready to relocate to Rumson if things got as bad as forecast.
But less than 24 hours after what was supposed to have been the peak of a horrific storm, residents and business owners on the narrow spit of sand had one word to describe what they experienced when Irene, by then downgraded to a tropical storm, blew through: “lucky.”
Heavy metal singer Sebastian Bach‘s Middletown home was destroyed when the Swimming River Reservoir overflowed its banks Sunday, he writes on his Facebook page.
A “numb, in shock & devastated” Bach reports that the house, once featured on MTV’s ‘Cribs,’ has been ‘destroyed, condemned and deemed uninhabitable,’ and that cherished mementos were lost in the onrush of reservoir water.
“Somewhere under this river is a Kiss pinball machine and 2 gargoyles from the Dynasty tour,” he writes beneath the photo at left. “If you see them floating past your house, they’re mine. Or at least they were. :(”
A redbankgreen reader sent us this photo, taken from upper floor of the Riverview Towers highrise on Riverside Avenue in Red Bank Sunday after Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene blew through. (Click to enlarge)
Rushing water from Shadow Lake left a gaping hole in Hubbard Avenue, above. Below, a truck fords flooding at the Poricy Pond culvert on Navesink River Road, site of a 2010 washout. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three Middletown bridges were overrun by floodwaters in Sunday’s storm, knocking at least two of them out of commission for the foreseeable future.
One of the three was the Navesink River Road culvert at Poricy Pond. This is the same culvert that Monmouth County had to close for rebuilding in 2010 after rushing storm flows undermined the roadway.
Its current condition wasn’t immediately known, but Middletown police have closed the bridge as impassable. In addition, there’s a fallen tree leaning on wires at that site.
By JOHN T. WARD
Several major roadways were out of commission and an estimated 1,600 homes remained without electrical power in Little Silver Sunday evening.
There’s no firm estimate on when the juice will be back on, or when Jersey Central Power & Light will be available to address several downed power lines that, in conjunction with roadway flooding, have forced street closings, Lieutenant Joe Mazza tells redbankgreen.
Meanwhile, tonight’s high tide, following the ground-saturating downpour of Tropical Storm Irene (formerly Hurricane Irene), is expected to prolong the discomfort for residents and business owners.
Red Bank borough administrator and fire marshal Stanley Sickels, interviewed by redbankgreen in Marine Park Sunday morning, says the town escaped the wrath of Hurricane Irene.
That truck in the video is one that was donated to the town by the City of Long Branch last Thursday.
Check out more videos at redbankgreens YouTube channel.
A Middletown culvert that was undermined by flooding 17 months ago was overrun by water rushing downriver from Poricy Pond late Sunday morning.
A pickup truck drives around a downed tree limb on Navesink River Road in Middletown Sunday morning. Below, Michael and Arnold Natali kayaking behind their home on Queens Drive South, Little Silver. (Click to enlarge)
That can’t be all there is, can it?
Sure, what used to be known as Hurricane Irene now a tropical storm, according to meteorologists was bad as fair as rainstorms go, leaving plenty of downed trees, limbs and wires, and the hazards they present.
Officials in Red Bank and Fair Haven, among other nearby locales, are warning residents to stay away from fallen trees and wires, and to keep their vehicles off the roads until road debris can be cleared.
Low-lying areas are underwater, and Sea Bright, nature’s punching bag, remained closed at midmorning as emergency and utility-company personnel checked for hazards such as gas leaks and stray electrical wires.
But the cataracts of rain, pouring water into our basements by the gallon? The horrific, howling winds shredding roofs? The daylong Cape Fear-style fury?
Feh. Irene went way off script, and hours before the forecasted end of it, locals were out in shorts and tee, enjoying the reprieve.
Curious locals gathered on the closed Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge around 10 a.m. Sunday as it became clear that Hurricane Irene was passing without inflicting anything like the degree of damage to the region that meterologists expected. Sea Bright, however, remained closed to all but oceanfront property owners because of flooding, police Chief John Sorrentino tells redbankgreen. “The hurricane kind of fizzled,” he tells redbankgreen. We’ll have more photos and video later. (Click to enlarge)
Reader Robert Bruce sent us this shot of the torn patio roof on the outdoor dining area of Juanito’s restaurant, Monmouth Street, Red Bank West Street side. (Click to enlarge)
Odor of gas, 90 Rumson Road, Rumson, residents outside, 8 am…
Sea Bright Beach Club, fire alarm, 8 am…
Eerie quite, not a leaf stirring at 8:11 as the Green holds its breath…
Tree down, 132 Monmouth Street, Red Bank…
Caption on YouTube video says ‘Hurricane Irene Flooding at McLoone’s Rum Runner in Sea Bright.’
Telephone pole snapped in half between first and second bridges to Barley Point Island, Rumson, 7:40 am…
Middletown side of Oceanic Bridge flooded, Rumson cops coning off access, 7:49…
Reader Peter Lisowsky shot rainwater running in the gutter on Mechanic Street around 8:30 Saturday night. (Click to enlarge)
Fire alarm, 50 Locust Avenue, Building 3, Red Bank, 7:32 a.m. Smoke reported…
First aid call to Salvation Army building, Red Bank, for 79-year-old male fall victim. That’s where the residents of the Chapin Hill at Red Bank nursing home were relocated late Saturday…
Tree down, wires arcing, tree on fire, Seven Bridges Road, area of Little Silver Point School… 7 am
Storm drain clogged with leaves, entrance to Count Basie Park, Red Bank…
Wire down, Shrewsbury Avenue between Drummond and West Side, Red Bank…
Report of tree down, Molly Pitcher Village apartments, Red Bank…
Water main break on Ocean Avenue, Sea Bright, near MerriMakers…
Large tree down at Sycamore and Silverbrook in Shrewsbury…
Sea Bright police having “serious radio problems.”
Tree down, Pearl and Central, Red Bank…
A bicyclist was involved in an accident with a car on Spring Street in Red Bank late Saturday. Details were not immediately available, but police said the bicyclist suffered minor injuries. (Photo by Cliff Galbraith. Click to enlarge)
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Thanks, folks, and here’s to a safe Sunday…
Locals and visitors in Red Bank, Rumson and Fair Haven, rated their anxiety levels about Hurricane Irene on Friday.
Check out more videos at redbankgreens YouTube channel.
Emergency officials have brokered a deal under which the Red Bank Salvation Army facility will provide temporary shelter for most of the 113 elderly patients of a nursing home ordered evacuated Saturday in the face of Hurricane Irene.
Borough emergency management coordinator Tommy Welsh tells redbankgreen that under a deal facilitated by the Monmouth County and state offices of emergency management 80 resident of the Chapin Hill at Red Bank nursing home will be moved just two blocks away, to higher ground, at the Salvation Army building on Newman Springs Road.
“We thought at this point it would be a home run if we could just move them up the hill,” Welsh said, noting that the four-story nursing home on Chapin Avenue is just yards from the Swimming River, in a flood zone. “If, god forbid, something should happen down there, we wouldn’t be able to get to them.”
Under an order to evacuate by 4 p.m. Saturday, residents and businesses owners boarded up properties, turning Sea Bright into a ghost town as Hurricane Irene approached.
Photos by Peter Lindner for redbankgreen.
