New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-13
RESULTS or THE GREAT STORM.

RESULTS or THE GREAT STORM.
The great storm which has beaten upon
these coasts since last Monday has produced
even more serious effects than were at nlSt
anticipated. The loss of life on land, 1t is
true has not been great; but from Rhode
Island to Virginia the destruction Of property
is immense. The New-Jersey shores, which
are particularly exposed, have borne the brunt
Of the tempest and the disasters at Coney
Island and ROckaway pale into inSignlhcance
beside the tale Of ruin which comes from the
towns between Cape May and sandy Hook.
Countless buildings have been demolished py
the waves or bodily swept away. The shore
is srewn with wIeckage. Atlantic City Is
surrounded by the sea, and its 10000 lnhab-
itantS have suffered severely from fright and
exposure. Between Long Branch ard Seq
Bright many cottages have been destroyed.
Beach Haven is entirely cut off from communl-
cation; and Ocean City. on the Maryland coast,
is submerged, and its people have been rescued
with difficulty. The belated holiday makers
at these summer cities have passed through -
irving experience but it is consoling to reflect
that the worst is over, and that the injury to
human life is surprisingly small.
That these towns have suffered so severely
is due. not alone to the force of the wind and
waves. but to their peculiar situation. FROM
| Sandy Hook almost to Cape Fear the Atlantic
States are protected from the laVageS Of Oh
| ocean BY a long line of sandy dunes or breast
] works. in many places not more than nan
| mile wide Towns on the outer edge oil these
! breastWOrks are connected with the mainland
! ouy by bridges over maIshy lagoons, and when
i travel across these is interrupted their inhab-
! itants are practically cut off from retreat. In
the present case. notably at Sea Bright, many
OF the towns were objected to a double as
sault. the wind having forced the water from
the bavS upon the dunes in the rear at the
same time that the Atlantic was hurting its
huge rollers against their outer face. A little
less elevation Of their main ridge would have
meant a general submergence, and several
noulishing towns would have been suddenly
wiped out of existence
4 remarkable feature is the change which the
stern has wrought in the NeW-Jersey coast
line. For centuries its beaches have been grad
ualy succumbing to the force Of the waves.
Scientific observers place the average loss al
twelve feet a year along the whole coast. In
the southern part OF the State the wear is
especially marked. Sandy Hook, on. the con-
tray. has extended itself a mile and a half
within the last hundred years. and is still gain
ing from accumuIatiOns hut at Barnega, the
loss has been 200 yards in forty years. The
present storm has greatly helped this deStruc-
ton. At the end of the Highlands a great
breach has been made in the sandy breaStw0rk,
opening lane that was closed in the days of
the Revolution, and Sandy Hook is once more
an island. Huge slices have been cut out Of
the three miles Of hard upland between North
Long Branch and ElbeIon and in many places
the bluff is undermined and will fall into the
surf. Along Island Beach there are several
inIetS TO Barnegat Bay which did not exist a
week ago. Long Beach naturally the most
isolated Of the dunes. has Barnegat City at its
noftherly end. Many new inlctS will doubtless
be found to have been formed at this point
when communication is restored and some Of
the marshy islands in the bay behind it are
probably covered by water.
Such encl oachmentS Of the sea inevitably
recall the flooding Of North Holland in the
thirteenth century when zoo square miles
Of dry and habitabIe land were covered by what
is now the Zuyder Zee. The elevation Of the
New-JerSey uplandS would fortunately prevent
similar calamity there. 1t is. however.
cmious fact that George II. Cook, the New
jersey State GeOl0giSt called attention twenty
years ago 10 the need Of more nletS TO BaIne-
cat Bay. and recommended the opening Of
channels which might diminish the pcriIs Of
navigation, shorten the water passage to New
York. and lessen the force Of the current at
Ratuerat Inlet.