I remember it like it was yesterday. I was nine-years-old and about to turn 10 in three weeks.
It started raining Monday night but by Tuesday the wind was really howling, and the rain was coming down torrentially. We had a big bay window in my bedroom which was a converted garage and I could see the flood water come up to the edge as the water surrounded my house.
For five straight days, it flooded in my neighborhood in the Ventnor Gardens section of Ventnor City, New Jersey, once in the morning and once at night. Of course, the school was closed Wednesday through Friday due to the flooding.
All my pals, Mikey, Allan, Chazzie, Victor, Harry, Leonard, Sandy, and Joe all played ball on the streets each day until the flood waters rose in the late morning. Then we went to a Summer-use house in the neighborhood that was raised a bit higher than most of the other houses. We could play in the yard since the flood waters began to recede after rising for about two hours.
All the roads going into Margate City, the adjoining town, were closed to prevent the possibility of looting since many folks had evacuated when the warnings were issued. A few friends and I walked into Margate on the beach since the police were not there, and we could see the devastation caused by the storm.
It was much worse in Ventnor. The entire Boardwalk was destroyed and the Library, located on a beautiful pier extending into the ocean was decimated with hundreds of soaked books scattered on the beach. Hundreds of cars were flooded and were towed out of town, a total loss.
My family was lucky that our house was not damaged but many, especially on the Bay and facing the ocean, were severely damaged by the waves and flooding.
It took years for Ventnor to recover.