By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Many residents and visitors in Sea Isle City may not know what he looks like, but they probably recognize his voice.
Mike Jargowsky, in his role as the city’s emergency management coordinator, narrated the Sea Isle weather alerts sent out to the public in advance of nor’easters, flooding, snowstorms and other meteorological calamities.
“If they heard me, it was serious,” Jargowsky said of his weather warnings from the Office of Emergency Management.
Yet he also noted that he would be on the receiving end of some good-natured razing if the weather did not turn out to be as serious as predicted.
“I would get teased, especially when it doesn’t come to fruition,” he said, laughing.
But now, Sea Isle will have to find a new narrator for the weather alerts.
Jargowsky has stepped down after serving as the city’s deputy emergency management coordinator and the emergency management coordinator from 2008 to 2024.
For his service to the community, Jargowsky was honored during the Aug. 13 meeting of City Council. Mayor Leonard Desiderio presented him with a commemorative plaque and expressed the community’s gratitude.
Jargowsky was born and raised in Sea Isle and has lived in the resort for nearly all his life. He is known for his community involvement, including being an active member of St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Although Sea Isle’s emergency management coordinator was considered a part-time position under Jargowsky, it came with what was essentially full-time responsibility, he said.
“It’s much more than a part-time position now,” he emphasized in an interview Friday.
Following Jargowsky’s departure, Sea Isle Police Chief Anthony Garreffi has taken on the added duties of emergency management coordinator. Det. Sgt. Nicholas Giordano will serve as deputy emergency management coordinator.
Jargowsky, who retired as a Sea Isle police captain in 2011, said it is much better for full-time professionals who are working in City Hall to fulfill the duties of emergency management coordinator and deputy emergency management coordinator.
“It’s getting to the point of being a full-time job. It needs people in the building to deal with all of the responsibilities,” he said of the professionals in City Hall.
“When I took over as emergency management coordinator, it was very much reactive. It evolved into a proactive position. You have to be there,” he added.
Landis Avenue in downtown Sea Isle is swamped by floodwater during a storm in December in 2023.
The position of emergency management coordinator involves many more responsibilities than just issuing weather alerts to the public.
Jargowsky worked closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit detailed damage reports that helped Sea Isle secure federal funding to pay for local storm-recovery expenses.
“Every penny is documented,” he said of the city’s paperwork submitted to FEMA.
Among the major storms that happened during Jargowsky’s tenure were Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 and the brutal winter blizzard Jonas in January 2016. Sandy and Jonas both caused significant damage and flooding at the Jersey Shore.
Emergency management agencies became more sophisticated following Sandy’s wrath and in Sea Isle’s case, “We became a well-oiled machine,” Jargowsky recalled.
Not all of the emergency management reports were for storm damage. Jargowsky also collaborated with FEMA during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak for federal funding to help Sea Isle buy such things as masks, protective plastic shields and hand sanitizer.
He also worked closely with the state and Cape May County’s Office of Emergency Management during storms and other emergencies.
Information for his storm alerts to the public would mainly come from the National Weather Service. They included warnings for coastal storms, snowstorms and even heavy rainstorms if they were expected to produce flooding.
“I would tailor my messages to fit the circumstances,” he said.
Sea Isle’s weather warnings can come in the form of texts, emails or phone messages as well as alerts on social media.
Jargowsky considers social media as a good way of communicating with the public for weather alerts. At the same time, he hopes that the public will always heed the warnings.
“We are educating the public that when they hear from FEMA or emergency management to take it seriously,” he said. “We can’t do it without the cooperation of the public.”
He said it was always his goal to get the warnings out quickly and to make sure “you’re clear and precise.”
As he looked back on his time as emergency management coordinator, one thing he is still trying to figure out is why some motorists insist on driving through floodwater – a potentially dangerous behavior that also generates wave-like “wakes” that can damage homes and other property.
“The biggest thing is trying to get people to stop driving through salt water,” he said.
Snow covers the pathways and the beach in Sea Isle during a storm in January 2024.
