in NJ it varies by location. some towns had moderate dunes, some towns were smarter and had bigger dunes and then some towns had barely any dunes to speak off. obviously towns that had higher and wider dunes made out better than towns that didn't. but there are spots along the shore that had little to no damage from surge while others are destroyed regardless of dunes. where the bands from the storm hit is not as you'd expect. one town could be destroyed but the next town north or south is fine. as little as 2 or 3 blocks made a huge difference. a lot of variables, some that could be controlled while others you can't prepare against.
most towns will be back up and running by this summer beach wise. a lot of beaches cold open tomorrow. most towns have already committed to opening the beaches, a lot without raising badge prices. sandy hook probably won't because it's a national park and funding for that will be the last to go through. the beaches will obviously not be was wide as people are used to. dredging is going on in places like Belmar, Pt. Pleasant Beach and Manasquan, but too much of the beach was lost to ever get it back to the way it was. no amount of dredging will. some of those places 1/2 of the beach is gone. most if not all of the sand is cleared off the streets in every town and piled back on the beach after going through trommels. the piles are sitting there waiting to get spread along the beach. most places with significant damage on the barrier island lost a lot of sand into the bay. that is a major problem no many people are talking about, how much sand and debris washed into the bay and the extensive amount of dredging the bay will need. it has me questioning if i will even use my boat this summer.
as for ordnance on the beach you are correct. that has been a problem at Sandy Hook and other beaches up and down the NJ coast for many years. Sandy Hook was as proving ground up through WWI. every once in a while some shells or other larger caliber ammunition will wash up. Sandy just washed up and was uncovered a whole bunch all at once.
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