NJ Spotlight News
Asbury Park businesses dry out after weekend flooding
Clip: 10/4/2023 | 3m 28sVideo has Closed Captions
Some areas still closed for clean up
Heavy rains slammed New Jersey on Friday, and coastal Monmouth County bore the brunt of the hit. Multiple lakes in Asbury Park spilled over their banks, flooding streets and businesses nearby. Days after the rain let up, some of the areas that got the most water are still working to recover.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
NJ Spotlight News is a local public television program presented by THIRTEEN PBS
NJ Spotlight News
Asbury Park businesses dry out after weekend flooding
Clip: 10/4/2023 | 3m 28sVideo has Closed Captions
Heavy rains slammed New Jersey on Friday, and coastal Monmouth County bore the brunt of the hit. Multiple lakes in Asbury Park spilled over their banks, flooding streets and businesses nearby. Days after the rain let up, some of the areas that got the most water are still working to recover.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch NJ Spotlight News
NJ Spotlight News is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipBusinesses in Asbury Park are still recovering from torrential rainfall over the weekend that caused severe flooding.
Some venues had more than three feet of water soak their property.
Local leaders say it's the worst flooding they can remember in nearly two decades.
As Ted Goldberg reports, business owners are now scrambling to reopen.
There was Tito bottles floating through the through the hallway.
We had kegs of beer floating over to Ocean Grove, and people are still returning it all over town.
All the empty kegs.
Flooding from Friday's rain devastated businesses like Asbury Fest, Hall and Beer Garden.
They've temporarily closed down to clean up the wreckage from four feet of water in the basement.
The police department asked everybody to evacuate.
We did have our kitchen staff here Friday afternoon.
They were prepping for the opening for Friday night.
It seems like the the water just found as Asbury Beer Garden.
For some reason it found us.
And then we connect with the house of independents and have found them as well.
So, you know, it's not a good sight.
The waters from Wesley Lake receded a few hours later, but the damage left behind will take weeks to clean up.
I can tell you our tax system has been totally destroyed.
All our refrigeration totally destroyed, our bathroom downstairs totally destroyed.
I mean, it's just a complete mess down there.
Owner Rich Crocker says he'll know the final tab when an insurance adjuster stops by tomorrow.
It took about five days to pump out that water.
Crocker says a little flooding in the basement is normal, but last Friday's flooding was wildly out of the ordinary.
Business owners in Asbury tell me it was worse than Superstorm Sandy 11 years ago.
We're assuming it's a fluke, but we you always have to be prepared.
So, yes, we will get, you know, back better towards a can withstand the water weather, you know, high quality doors of water help that I don't know.
You know, that's tough to say.
Having spoken to, you know, lifetime residents, they've never seen anything like what happened the other day.
Rob while owns Asbury Park Distillery, which shares a building with the beer garden.
Within 30 minutes, I had water from my patio up through four inches throughout my entire place.
So it was almost like the floodgates opened and there was really no stopping it at that point.
It's the worst I had ever seen.
While is filling and capping liquor bottles after spending a few days cleaning up the damage, their building sits a little higher and the flooding only hit them at ground level.
The water receded quite quickly and within a few hours it was out of here.
So it was really just the cleanup of the residue that was left over, which was which was the toughest thing.
And as you could see, our space is quite full.
Moving everything out, moving things around and cleaning things up.
That was really the biggest issue.
The next few weeks are critical and will determine if both businesses can keep their doors open.
It was a couple of days of cleanup, you know, so we expedited that obviously over the weekend and through the first half of this week.
But we got to get back to production and we're a little bit behind the eight ball.
We hope to be reopen in the next month.
And we can celebrate what we stand for.
Resiliency in the face of flooding, sadly becoming a more frequent occurrence along the Jersey Shore in Asbury Park.
I'm Ted Goldberg.
NJ Spotlight News.
Biden announces new round of student debt relief
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 10/4/2023 | 1m 10s | An additional 125,000 Americans approved for relief (1m 10s)
Forum focuses on NJ's housing crisis
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 10/4/2023 | 3m 18s | Baraka among politicians, community leaders discussing ways to break down barriers (3m 18s)
Gottheimer weighs in after McCarthy ousted as House speaker
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 10/4/2023 | 4m 57s | Interview: Congressman Josh Gottheimer (4m 57s)
Hudson County Democrats are hesitant to criticize Menendez
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 10/4/2023 | 4m 3s | The reluctance of local party leaders reflects on larger reality of "political bosses" (4m 3s)
Rutgers study highlights disparity in autism diagnoses in NJ
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 10/4/2023 | 4m 6s | The study looked at health and education records of all 16-year-olds across four counties (4m 6s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSupport for PBS provided by:
NJ Spotlight News is a local public television program presented by THIRTEEN PBS