Home Care In Lavallette, NJ

Jersey is in the middle of being slammed by a massive Nor'Easter, and it seems to be getting more and more intense as the storm rolls through.

Over the weekend, my wife and I rushed over to our aunt's house in Lavallette to secure tables, chairs, and other outdoor furniture that was left outside to make sure these whipping winds didn't throw everything into the bay.

Of course, once we wrapped up doing that, we had to take a quick trip up to the Lavallette boardwalk to see what the beach looked like amidst all of this extreme weather.

To be honest, there wasn't much beach.

We were just getting hit with high winds, and the ocean was nothing but white caps and breakers as the water took over the coastline.

Even in my town of Ocean Gate, our bay was so incredibly choppy, it looked like you were staring at waves breaking in the ocean, not our usual cool, calm, and collected Barnegat Bay

As the storm gets ready to leave us later today (hopefully!) it may have you wondering, where were the strongest winds for this storm recorded?

The way parts of my house were shaking over the past two days, I'd have said Ocean Gate.

But honestly, I don't think we got a gust that topped 40 or 45 miles per hour.

According to NJ.com, the strongest winds recorded from this Nor'Easter were in Island Beach State Park.

They hit wind gusts of 62 miles per hour during this storm, and Surf City was just behind IBSP with gusts hitting 60 miles per hour.

Some other beaches at the shore got rocked too, check out what Ocean City looks like after this Nor'Easter.

While some bouts with foul weather may have prevented the 2025 summer season from matching the level of crowds present at the Jersey Shore over the previous few years, a combination of warm water temperatures, heavy surf, reshaped beaches and even larger houses have kept firefighters busier than ever.

Lavallette Volunteer Fire Company Chief Michael Hajisafari summed up the season in a report to the borough council that was discussed at Monday night’s meeting, chronicling not only a high number of calls that required responses this year, but an ever-growing variety of call types. With the volume and breadth of calls has come additional training required for members of the all-volunteer department, especially more intensive water rescue training.

“We have had one of the busiest summers this year,” Hajisafari wrote. “Many were swimmers in distress when lifeguards were not on duty. We urge the community members to please only swim when lifeguards are present.”

So far this year, Lavallette firefighters have responded to a total of 130 calls. While many were the bread-and-butter of firefighting – structure fires, smoke conditions and carbon monoxide alarm activations – some of the most notable calls of the season originated from both the ocean and Barnegat Bay. Hajisafari said the company handled 13 water rescues,the save of a boater in distress, one water recovery, and even a brush fire on the beach. An overturned vehicle rounded out the wide variety.

The company’s members also spent the summer season intensifying their water rescue skills as well as practicing the adoption of new technology.

“Our firefighters completed additional training this summer on water rescue operations and vehicle extrication operations with newly-acquired battery powered extrication tools,” Hajisafari wrote. “We continue to evolve our techniques to improve safety and response.”

Earlier this summer, Shorebeat reported on a new sonar tool the company acquired that allows members to locate persons missing in the water.

Hajisafari reminded members of the community that volunteers are always being sought to the join the department. Whether one already has firefighter credentials or are interested in completing the Fire Academy, those interested in serving can get in touch via e-mail at [email protected] for membership applications.

Lavallette officials say they are interested in asking Ocean County officials to consider changing the name of the Upper Shores branch of the Ocean County Library to the “Lavallette” branch in order to reflect its location in the borough. Right now, the branch is the only library out of 30 operated within the countywide system that is not named for a specific place, however the name “Upper Shores” dates back to plans hatched long before the branch opened its doors in 1995.

Lavallette council members Anita Zalom and David Finter started a discussion on the name after recognizing the 30th anniversary of the opening of the branch and the 100th anniversary of the county library system. The two praised the library, but wondered why it is seemingly the only branch that is not named after the town in which it is located. The library’s Long Beach Island branch, which is located in Surf City, does not carry the name of its municipality, but still reflects a recognized name of the island as a whole. The remaining 29 branches all carry the names of their respective towns.

“I think we’ll probably reach out to them,” said Finter. “It was just something we noticed when we looked at the list of libraries for the hundredth anniversary. It seems like we’re the only branch that doesn’t have a town name in it.”

Located on Jersey City Avenue, the branch is one of the newer libraries in the county. But while its doors opened in 1995, planning came more than two decades earlier in 1973, when residents of Lavallette, Seaside Heights and Seaside Park began lobbying county officials for a local library on the barrier island. At the time, the county system ran a “Bookmobile” service on the island, but residents felt they were missing out on one of the community features that was beloved elsewhere. It took 12 years for the push for a new branch to gain formal momentum with the adoption of the Ocean County Library Master Plan in 1986. That year, the Ocean County Library Commission sought to create a master plan for expansion as the county’s population was exploding with growth. It was decided that the county would ultimately add 11 branches to even out service and create libraries in relatively equal proximity to all residents, including those on the norther barrier island.

One of the immediate issues faced by the county was that, unlike Long Beach Island, the northern barrier island has never had a formal name. A few have been floated over the years, including “Barnegat Bay Island,” which gained steam in local newspapers after the completion of the Point Pleasant Canal in 1925 physically split what had been popularly called the “Barnegat Peninsula” beforehand. Farther back in history, it was referred to as the “Island Beach Peninsula,” a name that was eventually taken up by the state park at the island’s southern terminus. But neither of those names were ever formally adopted by any governmental authority, with municipalities forming and breaking up over the years as “borough-itis” came to New Jersey, creating the state’s inordinate number of incorporated communities compared to the rest of the country for the sake of home rule. There is no formal record of a debate on the naming of the library, however the 1986 master plan is where the phrase “Upper Shores” first appeared.

According to documents from the time period, the master plan did not specifically dictate that the library carry the Upper Shores name – only that a library would be constructed somewhere within the municipal boundaries of Lavallette, Seaside Heights or Seaside Park. Since the county did not know where the island’s library would be located, an employee simply wrote in the master plan that a branch should be built in the “upper shores” of the county, contrasting the northern island with Long Beach Island. When land became available in Lavallette a decade later and the location of the library was decided, the name simply carried over from the master plan document, and has kept the name to the present day. After Hurricane Sandy struck in 2013, the branch was outfitted with a new roadside sign that included “Lavallette” in the name, but officially retained “Upper Shores” as its identifier.

Whether the name should be formally changed is a question of preference. Lavallette residents may find themselves in favor of changing the name, but county officials may harken back to the original petition promulgated by residents of the three towns in 1973. While “Upper Shores” is essentially meaningless outside of library system parlance, there may be no better option since the island as a whole has never been granted an official designation by either the state or cartography organizations.

“It just seems that all the other towns’ branches have names, but Lavallette doesn’t,” said Finter. “The name just kind of floats out there.”

According to county statistics compiled after the library required renovations after suffering damage in Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the branch served 11,224 registered borrowers each year and circulated over 103,000 items annually. In its first year, the branch registered about 2,600 patrons. Lavallette’s year-round population is 1,854 residents as of 2024.

Though the question of the formal name of the library will take a back seat to more pressing issues, Lavallette officials say they are genuinely interested in having the branch reflect the town’s name.

“I think we’re going to send a letter to the library – we’ll ask the council for permission to send it – and see what they do,” said Finter.

Lifeguards in Lavallette were honored on Monday night for rescuing nearly two dozen kids from rip currents.

News 12 caught up with Lt. Joe Caucino, of the Lavallette Beach Patrol, ahead of the ceremony. He said in his 50-year career, this rescue was the biggest because of the sheer volume of victims.

"The children got washed into the run, off the sandbar, Caucino said.

Caucino was the head lifeguard on White Avenue Beach the afternoon of Aug. 11, when some 20 kids from the Lavallette Yacht Club sailing school got caught in a rip current while they were swimming. The children were between the ages of 8 and 12.

"A big set of waves came in and what happened is what we call in the industry ‘a washout,’" Caucino said.

This summer was Tristan Rodriguez's second summer serving as a lifeguard for the Lavallette Beach Patrol. He was one of the guards on the beach that afternoon.

"It was definitely a little frightening, but we do a lot of training to prepare ourselves for that moment and at that point, you just have to trust in your abilities and what you’re trained to do and kind of take action," Rodriguez said.

During Monday night’s borough council meeting, the lifeguards who answered the call that day were recognized for their heroic lifesaving actions - not just locally, but on the state level by state Assemblyman Paul Kanitra.

"First and foremost, I just want to thank you all for representing this town so incredibly well, this county so incredibly well and my legislative district so incredibly well," Kanitra said.

"It feels great. I wasn’t really expecting it, but it feels good," Rodriguez said.

Up and down the Jersey Shore this summer, lifeguards had their hands full pulling swimmers from the rough surf. In Lavallette, lifeguards counted 86 assists and 18 major rescues.

Caucino hopes that the recognition ceremony will aid in the fight to get lifeguards classified as first responders.

"Being designated first responders, I think, is something that lifeguards in the state of New Jersey should be. That’s way overdue," Caucino said.