Brick Was Mostly Unscathed by Irene

Considering a few days earlier forecasters were warning Shore residents of a powerful hurricane directly hitting the New Jersey coastline, the morning after a weakened Hurricane Irene came to Brick, residents woke up to a township that had fared relatively well.

Brick wasn't left completely unscathed by the storm – which was later determined to have by the time it reached the Garden State – but aside from power outages spurred by fallen tree limbs and some limited tidal flooding, there was little in the way of structural damage or crushing floods.

"Truthfully, the microburst was worse," said assistant township Business Administrator Juan Bellu, referring to a severe thunderstorm that about a month before Irene formed.

Bellu said there was little in the way of damage to township property, and the storm didn't have a significant financial impact on the township's budget.

But while Irene may be remembered more for its hype than its harrowing meteorological effects, it put local government agencies to the test, proving that Ocean County's – and Brick's – evacuation plans, emergency management techniques and storm mitigation measures could all run smoothly.

Brick officials manned an as the storm hit, and as part of preparations, evacuated the township's barrier island section and by moving sand with bulldozes to protect it from erosion.

A year later, Irene may be remembered for many things: evacuations, media attention and a governor who implored people to "get the hell off the beach," but ironically, most Shore residents will likely rank the "hurricane that wasn't" behind nor'easters and storms of yesteryear in terms of destruction and power.