It's my first full fall season back on the east coast. I moved here last year just in time for Sandy, but that was about the only decent swell I got until Winter. You guys can blame me. I think I skunked the whole season for everyone this year. Just my luck.
Oh give me a break. More people die from heat waves than hurricanes. Any loss of life in a hurricane is totally avoidable. It's all loss of property and and 98% of property damage is totally avoidable by not building so close to the ocean. Our coastline should be at least 75% national protected areas anyway. Not homes for millionaires who get subsidies. People build houses on stilts and are at risk of damage in some areas every time a low pressure system goes near, forget a hurricane. That should tell you something. And surfers don't want landfall anyway. They want that sucker spinning out in the Atlantic, which is what the majority do. We want waves, not destruction. Sandy was a FLUKE. Remember hurricane bill? Now that's what I'm talking about. Hurricanes are a natural meteorological phenomenon and is the way the planet distributes moisture.
This is a very good public statement and I need something similar for a response to when my friends and acquaintances tell me on weekend nights "you don't know your own strength."
Oh and I should add they've done numerous studies showing how overdeveloping a coastline like jersey has robs the area of sand. Marshes trap sand and help replenish it naturally. We are destroying our coastline with over development. I'm not trying to be insenstive to people had destruction during sandy and no one wants to see destruction. I'm Just telling it like it is. Would have said the same thing before sandy and now after sandy.
I will not give you a break. I live in NJ and we DO NOT want a hurricane that will damage our coast any more, of course we want waves. We have come a long way since the storm hit, but there is still a long way to go. There are still some areas that are weakly protected and susceptible to damage with a dangerous storm. I don't care that you don't care. What is a day of surfing compared to someone else's entire life of material things and their home destroyed? Nothing. Go think.
It is what it is. The coastline is over developed. We can't go back in time and change things. We work with what we have. Fall in line with the coastal communities as a surfer who loves the beach or whine about what you read in books and on line. No matter what you feel, it's just bad on you for taking the stance of "I don't care". Give respect get respect. Peace.
Yes. I am sensitive about the issue of hurricanes. I am biased. If you dislike what I wrote just attribute it to that.
Actually you're totally clueless and clearly biased. I'm generally liberal, but I'm guessing you're a right winger? Subsides are fine for oil companies and millionaires, but no "entitlements" for the underpaid poor right? That's usually the right wing mantra http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/29/fear-no-hurricane-obama-quietly-approved Reminds me of people who build near a river that floods every 15 years and are shocked when the river floods their home and expect the government to reroute the river and spend millions protecting their house. Don't build by the river if you can't take the risk Yeah you know what...Material possessions are just that....Material! Thunderstorms damage homes all the time, yet I still enjoy watching them even though a branch might fall on my car/home. I enjoy meteorological phenomenon and I don't need to apologize to anyone for that. I certainly don't hope for a landfall of a hurricane or for a wind gust from a thunderstorm to topple a tree onto someone's house though.</b> I like hurricanes to spin out in the Atlantic and send ground swell. Some of you guys are being ridiculous. It's life. It's nature. Maybe people who like hot weather shouldn't hope for hot weather because it kills more people than hurricanes. What about people who enjoy snow in the mountains. Should skiers in the rockies not hope for snow. There's avalanches. People slip and fall. It's called nature and it's life. Actually there is something you can do about over development in coastal area's. Buy people's home's when they get destroyed and don't let them rebuild rather than the current agenda of spending millions of dollars in insurance subsidies and sand replenishment. Reclassify coastal area's to be protected from future development as well. Hey buebonice If you don't enjoy hurricanes coming off the cape verde then I'm guessing you don't go out surfing anytime there's a hurricane swell right? What about a low pressure system swell? That also causes coastal property damage. So I expect to NOT see you out in the lineup right? So basically sw local wind swells only for you right?
lmfao but you're clueless! my point is that you're so myopic that you think the "shore" is populated only by the rich; that average folks don't build lives along the edge of the sea. it had nothing to do w/ politics. my personal politics, btw, are irrielevant. but no, i'm not a "right winger".
I'm sure there are some rare exceptions(inherited wealth is still wealth of course!), but the majority of beachfront home owners are rich in nj. Oceanfront homes in NJ are generally worth over 1 million dollars. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-31/storm-risk-fails-to-deter-buyers-of-oceanfront-homes Average price is 1.1 million. Some WAY more than that. A nurse or a teacher working full time couldn't dream of buying a home like that. Many people just own these as summer homes. There not even full time residences. Long island is even worse. Some of the homes in the hampton that are oceanfront go for like 30-50 millions. It's really kind of absurd and show the huge income inequality that exists. Irregardless of being rich or not, we are overdeveloping our shoreline.
When I was a kid, my dad bought a house three houses from the water, and said "One of these days this will be waterfront property". He is long gone. I thought he was joking. He looks pretty prescient right now, although the house is still three houses from the water ( but for how much longer? ). Bottom line, don't live by the water if you don't like getting wet. All these rich landowners on the ocean want everyone to bail them out, but for Joe and Jane Surfer: no parking, no bathroom/showers, no beach access, no surf for YOU! Mother nature bats last. In the meantime, even though I have lost lots during several hurricanes, both personally, financially, and business wise, I would love nothing more than to see a big ole Cat 2 hang out south of Bermuda for about a week, then go off to the deep blue, maybe give our Irish brethren a few chunks.
i'm sure you're very smug, & that your belief that it's just "inhereted wealth" being destroyed makes you feel better about it, butnot everyone who owns a home along the shore comes from money. my family is descended from coal miners & sailors, yet we've lived & owned homes on barrier islands for more than 3 generations. my sister & her husband (both teachers) bought their home w/out a single penny of inherited money. my wife & i are in the process of doing the same. oceanfront? no, of course not. but as anyone who grew up along the coast knows, building & living directly on the beach is stupid. the coastline may be overdeveloped, but your constant harping about reclaiming the land for nature preserves & screwing the people who've lived in these places for generations is, frankly, insulting.
