Shortly after the “superstorm,” government “experts” reported that the sand dunes on South Jersey beaches “did their duty,” but now needed to be replaced at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.

When I was a kid, my dad joked about how he saved Atlantic City from invasion during World War II. When he was drafted, the Army sent him to Atlantic City where he guarded the St. Charles Hotel on the Boardwalk with a wooden rifle.

“We achieved our mission,” Dad bragged. “The Germans never came near the place.”

Of course, if the Germans really had invaded, he and his wooden rifle would have been useless. In the end the Germans never invaded any shore town, even those that had no soldiers at all.

Isn’t it the same story with the dunes? Sandy was a bad storm that hit with full moon tides at the worst possible time. Yes, there was little or no damage along the Boardwalk where there were dunes, but there was also little or no damage to the Boardwalk or ocean front properties where there were no dunes at all.

 In places like Wildwood, wide beaches – not dunes – broke most of the force of the waves. Elsewhere, wooden bulkheads and concrete seawalls built from Brigantine to Cape May after the 1944 and 1962 storms “did their duty,” but don’t have to be replaced. Most damage was from back bay flooding where beach dunes are useless.

If a 6-year-old with a bucket and shovel knows that ocean waves quickly wash away piles of sand, why don’t high-paid government “experts” understand that? Is it because a 6-year-old doesn’t know the political benefits of giving out hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts to big, politically connected contractors and their unions to move sand from one place to another every few years?

During the Monday night of the storm, the TV networks showed dramatic footage of the iconic Atlantic City Boardwalk being smashed to bits by ocean waves, and of the flooded street by the Bally’s Casino.

Everyone from Atlantic City immediately knew that this section of Boardwalk along Maine Avenue was destroyed years ago, and was slated for demolition, and that Michigan Avenue by Bally’s Casino often floods during heavy rains and high tides, and that the casino, the hotel, and the parking garage were at all times safe and dry and could have been open for business.

This phony TV “news” together with the governor’s closing of the casinos for five full days probably caused as much hardship as the storm.

One week later, the Atlantic City Alliance, a government funded agency, ran a big ad campaign to tell people for the first time that the Boardwalk and the casinos were never damaged and are powered up and ready for business.

So why didn’t Gov. Christie and other state and local officials contact the news networks and set the record straight during the night of the storm, and during the next few days when the whole country was watching? Was it because telling the truth at that time would have gotten in the way of this perfect political message to get Barack Obama re-elected?

“Everyone in New Jersey is a victim of this superstorm and needs massive help from a big federal government – and compassionate politicians like progressive Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic President Barack Obama working together to save us. And by the way, the corporate greed of Republican millionaires and billionaires like Mitt Romney gave us the global warming that caused this superstorm in the first place.”

There was flooding during three high tides – morning and evening of Monday, Oct. 29, and the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 30. By Tuesday afternoon, the storm was gone and most roads in the beach towns were dry and clear. Did we need to pay overtime and tie up hundreds of first responders at checkpoints to keep people from returning to their own homes and businesses Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday? This was never done during the more destructive storms of 1938, 1944, and 1962,

During this delay, many residents and businesses suffered additional damage from mold, theft, and vandalism. One man who stayed in his home in Brigantine was found with hypothermia Friday afternoon – three days after the storm. He died soon afterward. Did he die because he ignored the government “experts” and failed to evacuate, or because those “experts” kept his family from returning home for three days?

Somers Point attorney Seth Grossman appears on 92.1FM 8-9 a.m. Saturday. For information see www.libertyandprosperity.org, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (609) 927-7333. Breakfast discussions are held 9:30-10:30 a.m. every Saturday at the Shore Diner on Fire and Tilton roads in Egg Harbor Township.