By Donald Wittkowski
Garage doors have been smashed. Flower beds have been ruined. Now, the police are looking into the matter.
What may sound like a case of vandalism is actually a problem seemingly unique to flood-prone neighborhoods in Sea Isle City.
Truck drivers have been speeding through flooded streets, in the process creating boat-like wakes of water that have damaged private property, city officials said.
City Councilmen William Kehner and John Divney said they have heard of waves of water crashing against garage doors and wiping out flower beds at local homes.
“It can ruin someone’s flowers. Garage doors have been damaged,” Divney said.
The problem has drawn the attention of Sea Isle City Police Chief Tom D’Intino, who is part of a committee of city officials and business owners conducting a sweeping analysis of the most flood-prone neighborhoods.
“The chief is looking at what his power is in that area and what type of ordinance we could come up with to assist with that,” Kehner said of efforts between City Council and the police department to crack down on trucks speeding through flooded streets.
The main goal of the flooding committee is to develop a comprehensive, long-range strategy to protect the city from coastal storms and overflowing back bays, including the construction of dikes, pumping stations, roadway projects and drainage improvements.
However, the committee is also studying short-term solutions to flooding that could be quickly put into place. Among them, finding a way to stop trucks and other vehicles from creating damaging waves of water, Kehner said.
“We’re talking about any vehicles going around in storms and flooding people’s garages,” Kehner said during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Also during the meeting, Divney suggested having the city post “No Wake Zone” signs – similar to those used in waterways to warn speeding boaters – in flood-prone neighborhoods to try to slow down the trucks.
Kehner said he knows of some Sea Isle homeowners who have already put up their own “No Wake Zone” signs in hopes of protecting their property. Private signs are not backed up by any laws or enforcement action. They are more of an appeal to common courtesy.
The low-lying barrier island is vulnerable not only to powerful coastal storms, but also to tidal waters flowing out of the back bays. Kehner said Central Avenue, between 38th and 48th streets, and Landis Avenue, between 32nd and 36th streets, are sometimes swamped with two or three feet of flood water.
