When Hurricane Irene was baring down on the the tri-state area, NJ Gov. Chris Christie sternly chided his constituents to "get the hell off the beach." Now that he's dealt with the flooding, power outages, and road collapses, Christie is turning his attention to the melanoma-deprived skin tones of residents, urging them to head back to the Jersey Shore quick: “Be an opportunist. You’ll probably get a good price.”
Christie had called it an “economic imperative” to get the Shore’s electricity back up for Labor Day weekend, the last major vacation weekend of the summer. “The water quality is good. The beaches are clean. There’s no reason for anyone to fear going to the beach. If you were planning to go on vacation this weekend, get in your car and go on vacation,” he said.
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno echoed Christie, explaining in a radio interview that overall, shore communities were not hit as hard as expected so “get the heck back on the beach.” 850,000 people lost power for a time, and 220,000 people were still without power as of last night. More than 350 roads were obstructed, flooding damage is still being assessed today, and at least seven deaths in the state are being blamed on Irene.
