A powerful nor'easter during the Columbus Day weekend caused significant damage then to the dunes at Fifth Street in Ocean City.
Ocean City is stockpiling extra sand to make sure its beaches are in good shape for the 2026 summer tourism season.
But what city officials really want is a full-blown beach replenishment project funded by the federal government.
City Council, with the backing of Mayor Jay Gillian, approved a resolution Thursday night calling on Gov. Phil Murphy to declare a state of emergency for New Jersey’s storm-damaged beaches.
Gillian explained that a state of emergency would unlock a source of emergency federal funding, identified by Congressman Jeff Van Drew, for beach replenishment for Ocean City and other shore towns.
Van Drew, who represents shore towns in Atlantic and Cape May counties, also has urged the governor to declare a state of emergency for the beaches.
“The money’s there. The federal government has the money,” Gillian told Council at Thursday’s meeting.
So far, Murphy hasn’t acted on the request for an emergency declaration. Van Drew said the governor believes the eroded beaches do not qualify for a major disaster declaration.
Van Drew has written to Murphy twice to emphasize what he believes is an urgent need for beach replenishment at the Jersey Shore.
“Since July, our beaches have been battered by hurricanes and repeated nor'easters. Because of it, we have seen major dune loss, collapsed beaches, and damage across multiple shore towns,” Van Drew said in a letter to Murphy this week. “This is real, and it is serious.”
Ocean City is one of the coastal towns waiting for full-fledged beach replenishment projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers if federal funding can be found.
“Ocean City is one of the towns currently in line for an Army Corps of Engineers hydraulic dredging project, and that remains our best option,” Gillian said in a statement Friday.
The mayor explained that, in the meantime, the city is doing things on its own to maintain its eight-mile shoreline. Among them, the city is harvesting sand from stockpiles to restore the eroded beaches in the north end of town after the stormy winter season is over.
The city is also seeking environmental permits to truck in new sand, if necessary, he said.
Gillian and City Business Administrator George Savastano told Council that the beaches are in generally good shape, although storms have caused erosion in the north end of town, generally from Sixth to 14th streets.
“Between sand harvesting and trucking in sand, we’ll have our beaches ready,” Savastano said of the 2026 summer tourism season.
Savastano also said that Ocean City is “exploring” the possibility of undertaking its own beach replenishment project, if there were assurances that the city would be reimbursed by the federal government for the cost of the project.
In October, City Council declared a local state of emergency for Ocean City in hopes of securing state and federal funding to replenish the beaches and dunes in the north end as soon as possible.
The local state of emergency underscored the importance of healthy beaches “for storm protection, public safety, ecological balance, and tourism-based economic activity,” Council said.
Emphasizing the same theme, Gillian expressed his concern that even the perception that Ocean City’s beaches are badly eroded – when in fact they’re not – could hurt summer tourism.
However, Gillian offered his personal assurances that there will be plenty of sand on the beaches for the summer season.
“I want everyone to know that Ocean City beaches will be ready for the summer no matter what,” he said in his statement Friday.
