Respect the Power of Moving Water

      I snapped this photo from the pier at Ocean Grove on Monday. The waves were huge and dangerous. That much water barreling toward someone can knock them down. Deadly rip currents can pull people way out. There have been many rescues and some drownings at the shore. After Labor Day there aren’t any lifeguards at the beach, but the weather is still warm and some people will risk their lives to cool off. 

     As I stood on the pier, the waves slammed into the pilings and the force shook the entire pier. I didn’t stay there long. Hurricane Lee is not near New Jersey, but it stirred up those waves. Angry water is something to respect and avoid. 

     The first hurricane I remember as a child was Hurricane Donna in 1960. That hurricane did not make a direct hit on NJ. It was 80 miles east of Atlantic City as it went by. But the water level at Sandy Hook reached 10.1 feet above mean low water. Only Superstorm Sandy went higher at 13.21 feet.

     I grew up in a house on a hill over a lake that drained into Raritan Bay. When Hurricane Donna went by, the water from the bay came into the lake. The lake rose to within a foot of the top of the hill. The French doors blew open with a gust of wind, but we managed to shut them again and put a chair up against them to prevent them from blowing open again. Then a tree fell on our neighbor’s chimney. 

     My mother ordered us to put on boots and raincoats. She figured we would have to evacuate. Fortunately, the water receded and Hurricane Donna moved on to Long Island and New England. We were safe.

     The fresh water fish in the lake died. My brother and I tried to save some of them by filling up buckets with fresh water and putting the fish into the buckets. But it was hopeless. All the fish died. 

     Never underestimate the power of moving water. Stay safe.