OCEAN CITY — With the dawn bringing a promise of a beautiful day Thursday, Nicole Perry put her son, Josh, in the car and drove from Gloucester Township for a day at the beach.

She'd heard the horror stories about the aftermath of Monday's battering nor'easter. But sunshine and blue skies trumped a three-day-old storm.
The day did not disappoint. She showed 5-year-old Josh where high wind sliced into the dunes, but mother and son had ample room to soak in the seashore atmosphere -- a concern after storms and regular erosion have lessened space on the beach.

"It was a nice day," said Perry, a 38-year-old nurse. "I'll absolutely be here again Memorial Day weekend."

In the next several weeks, the amount of sand for visitors to lie on will expand as the city and state embark on the first beach replenishment in four years. Officials plan to pump 600,000 cubic yards of sand from the base of the Longport bridge to 12th Street.

The pumping should begin Sunday and continue daily until completed, weather permitting.

"It will take several weeks at a minimum," said Darlene Yuhas, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The hope is that another strong storm doesn't roll by in the middle of the pumping to wash $6 million of sand out to sea.

The rest of the southern New Jersey shore cannot hope to be as fortunate. No beach project stands ready to save the day. Instead, towns from Brigantine to Cape May will have to scramble to be ready for Memorial Day, especially on the northern and southern ends of the islands, said Steve Hafner, a coastal geologist at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

The storm left vertical cliffs, known as scarping, in the dunes ranging from two and three feet to 14 feet in places like Avalon. Damage was minimal in the center portions of beaches in Ocean City and elsewhere.

"The worst damage was in the north end of Avalon and north end of Atlantic City. Strathmere also suffered significant erosion in the north end," Hafner said.

Towns will do their best to fortify the beaches by Memorial Day weekend, but visitors will be inconvenienced, Hafner said.

For example, Avalon will attempt to truck in sand to create access points and ramps to what is left of the beach to prevent a large drop-off.

The Ocean City project couldn't come at a better time, said business administrator Jim Rutala. The fill would have begun a few weeks ago but was delayed because of equipment problems.

"It was a good thing they hadn't started the replenishment yet," said Hank Hood, who runs Shirts and Things on the boardwalk, selling sweatshirts, T-shirts, boogie boards and other beach paraphernalia.

The replenishment is part of what is supposed to be an every-three-year cycle following a major beach fill in 1991 and 1992. The latest round comes a year late and a ton of money short from the federal end.

"The feds reneged on their obligation. We lobbied the state. We were fortunate they agreed. But the scope was lessened. There's a smaller cross-section being filled," Rutala said.

Still, it's better than nothing. After the Monday storm and another the Friday before, the water runs up to the base of the dunes at high tide, said Earl Paul, a local resident who comes to the 7th Avenue beach almost every day of the year.

"There's no place to sit at high tide," he said.

The storm damaged the dunes, but the reality is that erosion on the beach in front of his store has limited seating capacity for two years, Hood said.

"Last year, it got so crowded, they barred Frisbees," he said.

But it could be worse. The extensive dune system, some of it in place 40 years, did its job and protected the boardwalk and property beyond, Rutala said.

Plastic geotubes further north also prevented damage.

Reach William H. Sokolic at (609) 823-9159 or bsokolic@camden.gannett.com