Frankenstorm: Municipal Officials’ Worst Nightmare Come True

Hurricane Sandy - A.K.A. Frankenstorm - continues to sweep towards Jersey, and stormy weather is intensifying.

A state of emergency is now in effect across the Garden state, and many coastal areas in Jersey  have been evacuated.

After hurricane Irene and a freak Halloween snowstorm belted Jersey last year,  Frankenstorm is just the scenario local officials were fearing - and didn't want to see, according to New Jersey League of Municipalities Executive Director Bill Dressel.

"This is very bad news" he says, "you can't budget for these kinds of calamities…as I get information about Frankenstorm, it's scary, because there are limited resources, not only at the local level but at the state level and federal level quite frankly…I mean this could set us all back as far as New Jersey's attempt to come out of this recession…this is something that is going to drain limited financial resources and it's going to tax our budgets and our nerves."

He also points out this "could potentially be a life threatening storm - yes we have to be concerned about the dollars, yes we have to be concerned about what it's going to mean to our roads and our infrastructure, but most importantly, we have to be concerned about saving lives…it's unfortunate, but this is just the latest in the series of storms which municipal governments have had to confront over the past couple of years…hopefully it won't be as bad as everyone is saying this time around."