Toms River, Ocean County Comes In Sixth On Weather Channel's List Of Worst Counties To Live In

by Patricia A. Miller

The Weather Channel has named Ocean County as one of the six worst counties in the United States to own a home, based on natural factors.

“A detailed analysis by The Weather Channel of both historical and risk-related weather, climate and natural disaster data reveals that certain counties in the United States are more at risk for natural impacts like severe storms, hurricanes and floods that often damage and destroy homes, putting lives and livelihoods at risk,” the study states

The damage from Superstorm Sandy and wildfire risk from the Pine Barrens were the two primary factors that landed Ocean County on the list, according to the study.

“Superstorm Sandy made landfall just south of the county in October 2012, causing enormous storm surge that battered the county’s highly developed coastline, including places such as Mantoloking, Point Pleasant Beach and Seaside Heights,” the report states. “Boardwalks and amusement parks were famously reduced to splinters, but thousands of homes were also ravaged by the seawater and Sandy’s high winds”.

NOAA estimated that Ocean County incurred $10 billion in damage from Sandy and $11.1 billion during the 1996-2013 survey period, just under Monmouth County’s $11.8 billion.

What landed Ocean County at No. 6 and Monmouth County outside of the top 100 (No. 121)? Ocean County has a modest wildfire risk from the Pine Barrens in its interior, and Monmouth’s wildfire risk was too low to score any points, according to the study.

Ocean County also reported eight deaths in homes during the survey period to Monmouth County’s three, and Monmouth’s larger population reduces its per-capita damage and death scores.

Not surprisingly, the study results angered members of the Ocean County Board of Freeholders.

“For a national organization such as the Weather Channel to pass judgment on our county based mainly on the fact that we were struck by Superstorm Sandy is incredibly disingenuous,” said Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari.

Vicari said Sandy was a once-in-a-lifetime freak storm that struck not only Ocean County, but the entire New Jersey Shore north into New York.

“This storm came up the coast and turned nearly due west,” he said. “That’s almost unheard of in the history of our region.”

Freeholder Deputy Director John C. Bartlett Jr. questioned if the federal officials who prepared the safety study, on which the Weather Channel report was based, had every visited Ocean County.

“Much of the most serious structural damage from Sandy occurred in homes and businesses along the coast,” Bartlett said. “Yet this study lumps the whole county together, ignoring the fact the Ocean County stretches more than 25 miles inland.”

To see the entire list of counties, click here: http://stories.weather.com/worstplacestoownhome