Gov.Christie and Sandy Aftermath

Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast pretty hard and terrible damage on the Jersey Shore area which will cost way into the billions to repair. Governor Christie was very pro-active as I watched him taking calls from residents on a radio station and giving them all direct and sincere answers engaging each caller in a direct, non phony, no nonsense conversation telling them what to do and telling the reporters and viewing audience to stay in your homes.

Gov. Christie was particularly upset with the Mayor of Atlantic City because he (Christie) offered to send busses to the people particularly the elderly and poor people and take them to a safe shelter area. The mayor said, “Oh No, we can send them to shelters here.” Well the streets were flooded and there was no way they could get to the people to shelters. Fortunately everyone survived somehow and Christie let it be known he was very angry with the mayor.

The next day I watched as the New Jersey state TV station NJ 12, showed Gov. Christie meeting with residents of some of the shore towns that had been devastated particularly Mantaloking, Seabrite, Seaside Heights , Rumson and Sayervile. As he walked the streets he met with as many people personally as he could, shaking their hands, consoling them and hugging them as they cried on his shoulders. He looked each person square in the eyes and had extended conversations with them. You could see he was very sincere and not a bit of phoniness or politician in him. It reminded me of New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani during 9/11 meeting with the victims and attending all those funerals. You could see this affected him personally too. One woman cried on his shoulder saying “We lost everything. I have nothing” and Christie promised her they would get things repaired. One resident told him he tried contacting FEMA and they said there wasn’t anything they could do. Christie said that would change and he would get after them. He spoke with high school kids who were crying and hugged them sincerely and talked with every person as much as he could very personable. My wife was crying and I was too as we watched the incredible damage from the air on TV of areas we’ve been too. The streets were filled with sand they said was two and three feet deep and homes along the shore were completely destroyed. Boats that were docked for the winter were scattered and thrown on top of one another like toys. Christie said this is a monmouth project and we’ll take it one step at a time.

The famous Seaside Heights boardwalk and amusement center was completely destroyed and the famous roller coaster was washed out to sea. The news anchors showing this were completely shocked and one said she was just there with her kids this past summer. She wondered how many people went on those rides and taken pictures not realizing that would be the last time they would ride them..

Earlier in the year Christie attended a Bruce Springsteen concert as he is a big fan of Bruce’s and wanted to meet with Bruce. Bruce, being the big liberal that he is refused. Hey Bruce if you’re reading this, put your partisanship aside and meet with the governor. After all he’s touring your area and meeting with your guy Obama. The least you could do is thank him for being a fan and helping your state and area out like so many of the residents he met with did..