Atlantic City Weekly

Share this Story:

ATLANTIC CITY — Tuesday, Aug. 22:

When I pulled up to the Pleasantville Library and saw everyone milling around outside the building, I asked if they were having a fire drill. That’s how I heard about the earthquake in Virginia and the tremors felt in our area. 

By the time I got home, that was the only news on every TV station. I ventured around town and found that even the BBB’s (black beach bums) had stopped laughing when they momentarily felt the sandy ground beneath them moving this way and that. 

These sunbathing party animals, who meet on Caspian Avenue beach daily during the summer months, keep their beach chairs and towels in their car trunks year-round. Last week, as they sat in their traditional circle catching up on neighborhood news and gossip and telling jokes, they noticed the young lifeguards bewildered faces as their lifeguard stand threatened to topple — then, the cell phones began ringing.

Thursday, Aug. 24:

People were still taken aback by the unusual event of earthquake tremors in our area, but no one had time to dwell on Tuesday when Hurricane Irene was dominating the airwaves most of Wednesday and Thursday.  I never doubt the goodness of my fellow human beings, because I believe we are innately good. 

Still, events like natural disasters have a way of putting even the best of us to the test.  By Thursday night, as we waited for officials to make final decisions and wondered if the casinos would close, all over the other Atlantic City, families, friends and neighbors asked each other, “Do you have somewhere to go?” 

If the answer was “yes”, people smiled and walked away speaking in hushed tones about the possibility of Irene slamming our tiny island. 

If the answer was “no”, people invited each other to join their caravan of evacuees should the need arise on Friday.

Friday, Aug. 26:

(Left) Showboat employees on Friday after they were told the casino would be shutting down due to mandatory evacuation of Atlantic City. (Photo by Nastassia Davis)

Even those who thought the media was exaggerating and planned to stay put began having second thoughts. Most of us locals have family nearby so when officials announced a mandatory evacuation, we headed to whomever had the largest house or spread out to various homes gathering the children, elders and disabled as we piled into vehicles with blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, inflatable mattresses, emergency supplies and non-perishable food items.

(You have to understand that to others, “off-shore” usually means out in the ocean, but to A.C. locals, “off-shore” means inland or “on the mainland.”)

That’s where most were headed, away from the shore.

Lines at the Atlantic City Bus Terminal were long on Friday as Atlantic City evacuees headed out of town. (Photo by Nastassia Davis)

Others, mainly the indigent, waited for word about the buses that would take them to shelters at colleges and universities, churches or school gyms in other parts of New Jersey.  Some residents drove up and down Routes 30 and 40 west of Route 9 inquiring about vacancies at every motel and hotel along the way, but they were in stiff competition with tourists, who seemed more willing to pay higher-than-usual prices because of the approaching storm. They found accommodations where they could, some only “one step up from a homeless shelter” my dad told me. As for me and hubby, we eventually headed over to Wash’s in Pleasantville.

At Wash’s, people were partying like it was any other Friday night, but we later found out that this was the case at many eating establishments around the county. Folks were having “hurricane parties” as if they were planned, themed events. 

Between eating, drinking and dancing, they crowded around TVs watching, hoping and praying for the best.  Wash’s even hosted a wedding and reception, rescheduled from Saturday because of Irene. 

With half their expected guests, this young couple partied as long as possible into Friday night trying to make the best of their stormy wedding day. I was hoping that the weekend wasn’t any indication of what their married life would be like.

Saturday, Aug. 27:

When I found my mom preparing an order of 50 chicken wings, I realized Wash’s and other food businesses would remain open as long as they could. People had to eat, no matter what, and now many had houses full of hungry evacuees.  Sure enough, people kept coming the whole day, buying mostly fried chicken wings and beer with burgers and fries from time to time. Until high winds and drenching rain stopped the flow of patrons, they came to pick up their orders or sat around the bar watching the TV in disbelief and asking, “Is this thing really going to hit us?” The few patrons who waited too long and finally could not leave covered themselves with blankets and fell asleep in their beach chairs inside Doris’s Jazz Room.

Sunday, Aug. 28:

Happiness reigned supreme as people sat around the bar eating scrambled eggs, ham and hot rolls and drinking orange juice and coffee. It seemed the worst had passed. While some waited for an official announcement, others drove out to find the barricades still up and Atlantic City still shutdown.

Word from those who had stayed in the city said it was eerie seeing A.C. so deserted and reminiscent of some western ghost town. Residents trickles back into the city as soon as they could and though not much was open, a smattering of people walked the boardwalk. Slowly, the city began to breathe again. 

While power outages were still widespread, there was no better place to be than the beach.

There, surfers were happy with the waves, most beaches were deserted but not destroyed; dunes, beach bars, lifeguard stands and walkways were intact.  By afternoon, people were gathering on some beaches and thanking God or speaking other words of gratefulness. 

Things could have been so different, everyone agreed, as we stared out at that same gorgeous ocean amazed at its calm and beauty while the afternoon sunlight danced on its surface.

LEFT: Trump Plaza Beach Bar Monday morning after the storm. (Photo by Craig Billow)

I headed back over to the Caspian Avenue beach where I thought I’d talk to some of the BBB’s (black beach bums) but found only a few enjoying the solitude of a calm and quiet bay. 

Debris from our stormy weekend had been cleared and piled in a corner. 

I was reminded of our human frailty as well as our interdependence. 

When the storm raged outside, no one wanted to be alone.  Now that it had passed, many of us walked solo along the beaches or sat alone in thoughtfulness.

See more photos from Atlantic City during Hurricane Irene weekend here.

Turiya S.A. Raheem was born and raised in Atlantic City. Currently an English teacher at Atlantic Cape Community College, she loves to describe her neighborhood as “the other Atlantic City,” because it was not the casino-resort mecca most people know today. It was a place with a “cozy, down-home feeling” as she describes in her 2010 book, Growing Up in the Other Atlantic City: Wash’s and the Northside.