Dunes ‘held up well’ in Belmar, mayor says (Drone video)

The construction of a 1.3-mile dune along the shoreline in Belmar did exactly what it was supposed to do during this past weekend's historic winter storm: it protected the streets and homes from devastating flood waters.

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, who took a drone video of the shoreline, said there was only one breach but it didn't result in any catastrophic flooding.

"The dunes performed really well. We had one breach, but no flooding. We are happy our preparation paid off," Doherty told NJ 101.5.

In addition to building up the dunes along the shore, Doherty said crews also lowered the town's two lakes so that they could accept as much water as possible in order to protect residents further inland.

"We lowered our lakes and they are doing well, no flooding," Doherty said. "We had some flooding from shark River that caused us to close Route 35 a few times over the weekend. But no damage to homes or property."

Doherty said the town began plowing roads early in anticipation of more snowfall.

"We started plowing snow on Friday night at 8 p.m. and our streets are in good shape today," he said.

Toniann Antonelli is the digital managing editor for news at NJ 101.5. Reach her at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.