![\"Hooks](\"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/contentdir\/uploads\/2013\/07\/2012-Hooks-Creek-Lake-in-Cheesequake-State-Park.jpg\")
<\/a>Hooks Creek Lake in Cheesequake State Park in August 2012. This was Two Months before Hurricane Sandy Struck.<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019ve been trying to find information regarding the massive storm surge which came on shore from Raritan Bay hitting Morgan, South Amboy, Sayreville and all the communities lining Raritan Bay in the dark evening hours of Monday, October 29. 2012.\u00a0 While I have yet to find sufficient information regarding this surge, which knocked over the 119-year old Old Orchard Shoal Lighthouse off the south shores of Staten Island, flooded portions of South Amboy and Sayreville, badly mangled the NJ Transit railroad tracks in the back yard of my Morgan childhood home, destroyed or greatly damaged Morgan based marinas, and caused significant damage to <\/span>Cheesequake State Park<\/a>, I did find a report which identified specific damages done in the park.<\/span><\/p>\n The report titled \u201cASSESSING THE IMPACTS OF HURRICANE SANDY\u00a0ON COASTAL HABITATS<\/a>\u201d was written by The American Littoral Society<\/a> (ALS), in partnership with the Hudson River Foundation and the Rutgers University Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis.\u00a0 The Littoral Zone is the part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. Per their web site, The American Littoral Society promotes the study and conservation of marine life and habitat, protects the coast from harm, and empowers others to do the same.<\/i><\/p>\n The ALS was tasked by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to coordinate a regional assessment to rapidly evaluate the quantitative and qualitative environmental impacts associated with Hurricane Sandy. The area covered by the report was much larger just than the westernmost part of Raritan Bay.\u00a0 It analyzed the mid-Atlantic coastal areas and includes the Delaware Bay, coastal New Jersey, the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, Jamaica Bay and Long Island Sound.\u00a0 The Final Assessment Report, submitted on December 17, 2012, focused on the physical effects the storm had on coastal habitats and the target species which depend on them. It also identifies realistic opportunities to address and remediate critical storm-related challenges facing those species.<\/p>\n Here are excerpts from the report:<\/p>\n Cheesequake State Park<\/strong><\/p>\n Cheesequake State Park is uniquely situated between suburban southern New Jersey and urban northern New Jersey, is bisected by the Garden State Parkway, and sits adjacent to the Raritan Bay. It is home to a variety of habitats, including open fields, saltwater and freshwater marshes, a white cedar swamp, pine barrens, and a northeastern hardwood forest and suffered several different types of damage from Sandy, including the following:<\/p>\n Hurricane Sandy created two specific opportunities for invasive species. One was created in areas where a large number of trees were felled.\u00a0 The second opportunity exists in areas where intertidal and near shore plant species were destroyed or damaged.<\/p>\n Many of the problems experienced were the result of the failure of man-made structures in the face of the storm such as Cheesequake Creek State Park\u2019s Hooks Creek Lake dam\/culvert.<\/p>\n Osprey Nesting Platform in Cheesequake State Park in August 2012. This was Two Months before Hurricane Sandy Struck.<\/p><\/div>\n The Superintendent of Cheesequake Park submitted four priority project summaries also known as high-priority remediation opportunities:<\/p>\n As if this wasn\u2019t enough, in addition, the report also mentions these pleasant statistics:<\/p>\n Flooded by the storm surge and rendered inoperable due to power outages, several major sewage treatment plants released raw or partially treated sewage into local waterways. The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission treatment plant released an estimated 400 to 500 million gallons of untreated wastewater into the Newark Bay for several days, with the total amount discharged estimated to be in the billions of gallons. The Middlesex County Utilities Authority treatment plant in Sayreville, New Jersey released about 300 million gallons per day into the Raritan River for an unknown period of days. State officials issued advisories for the waters of the Hudson, Raritan, Passaic and Hackensack Rivers, Newark and Raritan Bays and the Arthur Kill and the Kill van Kull.<\/p>\n On the good news side, here is an article which includes the Osprey\u2019s return to Cheesequake State Park<\/a> in May 2013.<\/p>\n Here is a Google Map showing the Osprey Nest Monitoring Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n A video of Osprey branding at Cheesequake State Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n New Jersey Osprey Project on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two additional web postings about the Ospreys in Cheesequake State Park<\/a> and the area<\/a>.<\/p>\n Photos of Osprey Banding in Cheesequake State Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/a>\n
\n
\n
\n