海角大神

Less than a year after superstorm Sandy devastated a famous stretch of New Jersey鈥檚 boardwalks 鈥� leaving local businesses in a ruin of splintered boards, mangled steel, and a blanket of sea-swept sand 鈥� the tornado of fire that this week swept through four blocks of the area鈥檚 just-rebuilt arcades and restaurants has burned nearly every business to the ground.

The flames destroyed some 50 businesses along an iconic stretch of the state鈥檚 numerous boardwalks, which run along its 130 miles of ocean coastline.

Indeed, Seaside Park and Seaside Heights became national emblems of Sandy鈥檚 ravages. Particularly prominent were images of the , which had been swept off its moorings and left isolated a few hundred feet into the ocean. It was finally dismantled this May.

鈥淎fter all the effort and time and resources that we鈥檝e put in to help the folks in Seaside Park and Seaside Heights rebuild 鈥� to see this going on is just unthinkable,鈥� said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). 鈥淪o, I know how I feel, and I can only imagine how the residents and business owners in this area are feeling.

鈥淢y heart goes out to them,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檓 here, to make sure that every resource is brought to bear to contain this problem. And, listen, this is us, you know, so as soon as this is over, we鈥檒l pick ourselves up, we鈥檒l dust ourselves off, and we鈥檒l get back to work.鈥�

Yet the dust and smoldering embers from the wind-borne flames come just months after the millions of dollars poured into these Sandy-ravaged communities, which rely on tourism.

On average, Seaside Heights takes in about $1.2 million from beach badge sales a year 鈥� one marker of the number of visitors every year. This dollar figure spiked during the pre-Sandy summers when the hit MTV reality show 鈥淛ersey Shore鈥� brought thousands of new visitors.

By this August, however, sales were only near $800,000, according to Seaside Heights borough administrator John Camera, as .

鈥淪easide Heights was not able to rebound the way other communities along the Jersey shore did because it was hit by Hurricane Sandy harder than any other area,鈥� e-mails David Fiorenza, an economist at Villanova University School of Business in Pennsylvania. 鈥淩entals were down this summer as the boardwalk and attractions were not ready. If this horrible fire did not hit [Thursday], Seaside Heights would have been able to rebound by next summer.鈥�

Of the town鈥檚 $12 million annual budget, $7 million is drawn from summer tourism, according to Seaside Heights .

鈥淚 would say we were probably 30 to 35 percent off this summer,鈥� says Ron Rinaldi, a manager at the . The restaurant is the lone business left standing in the area, according to Mr. Rinaldi, who witnessed the fire as it spread.

鈥淢ost of the other businesses on the boardwalk were probably off more鈥� this summer, he says. 鈥淚 mean, we were lucky. We鈥檙e a large restaurant with a liquor license, and we have indoor seating.鈥�

The fire began 10 feet north from Sawmill at Kohr鈥檚 Frozen Custard, an ice-cream stand that has been part of the Seaside communities since 1919.

鈥淚t was the perfect storm,鈥� Thomas Boyd, Seaside Heights police chief, told MSNBC鈥檚 鈥淢orning Joe.鈥� 鈥淵ou had hot tar roofs, you had fire, and you had 30 mile-per-hour winds. So I just knew it was going to go that quick.... I鈥檓 waiting for the frogs and locusts to come now,鈥� he said, referring to the biblical plagues.

On Friday, Governor Christie said the area "provided generations of memories for our citizens" 鈥� and would do so again.

"We will restart the rebuilding as soon as possible," he said. "We are tough, and we stand together in a crisis."

But some local business leaders see a long road ahead.

鈥淲here do they go, how do they recover?鈥� says Jack Purvis, a Jersey shore resident and president of the New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architects. 鈥淵ou know, it鈥檚 tough. They probably just spent most of their insurance money they had from Sandy to rebuild what they have now, and now they have to do it again. It has to be pretty heartbreaking.鈥�

Most of the structures in the area, even after being renovated after Sandy, date back to the 1960s and earlier, notes Mr. Purvis, who sold hot dogs and sausage sandwiches in Seaside Heights as a teenager in the 鈥�60s.

鈥淏ut in the process of rebuilding this, they have an opportunity to rebuild these businesses to the current code requirements and look at buildings getting sprinklers, and upgrading the water services that come into these areas,鈥� he says. 鈥淏uilding them with fire partitions, protecting the structure 鈥� life safety things which are really the most important. With things like this, you can improve them in the recovery.鈥�

The cost to rebuild this section of the boardwalk would be about $600,000, , Seaside Park鈥檚 borough administrator. He didn鈥檛 know how much it would cost to rebuild the ruined businesses, however.