As East Coast braces for Hurricane Earl, memories of 'The Perfect Storm'

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Hurricane Earl's impact on East Coast brings back so many memories for me. Working in Atlantic City, New Jersey from 1990 to 1994, I watched in amazement as the shoreline was pounded by an astonishing three "100-year" storms in the span of a year and a half.

The most recognizable was the Halloween Storm of 1991, a storm that thanks to George Clooney and the story of the fishing boat "Andrea Gail," would come to be known as The Perfect Storm.

WEB EXTRA: Click the above photogallery to see photos from the storm.

The enormous Nor'easter, which was actually a combination of different systems, was far out to sea but it was so powerful that it pushed tides to a high not seen in some parts of New Jersey since the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944.

Before it was over, it would claim about a half mile of Ocean City's boardwalk and flood out much of the barrier island (and claiming I might add my first car, an '82 Monte Carlo.)

The storm began to affect Ocean City on October 30, 1991.  The sky could not have been bluer that day, but far out in the Atlantic, the system began to churn up the surf to the point that it prevented the high tides from adequately subsiding at low tide. As a result, each successive high tide rose higher and the island began to flood.

After anchoring the 11 p.m. news that night, I made the decision not to return to the flooded barrier island where I lived. However, a flat tire on the Garden State Parkway forced a change in plans. 

I changed the tire in the dark, and I wasn't convinced it was on right, so I turned around and went back to Ocean City where the 9th Street Causeway was flooded. The water was much deeper than I anticipated.  I jumped a curb and made it through, but the damage was done. Salt water is extremely corrosive, and the rusting process starts as soon as water hits air. Within a month, my Monte was toast.

The next morning's high tide was again even higher, the flooding deeper and the damage to the boardwalk severe.

The Halloween Storm and another "100 Year" storm that would follow just six weeks later would leave much of the Jersey Shore battered, a large chunk of Ocean City's boardwalk gone, and the beaches eroded to the point that many ocean-front properties were dangerously close to being lost for good.

Nearly two decades of beach replenishment and quiet East Coast Hurricane seasons have resulted in built-up beaches and massive dunes where none previously existed. Hurricane Earl will take a chunk out of them for sure, but for the most part, the dunes will protect the coast, which they couldn't do in 1991.