Brick Township is one of the many Ocean County communities that suffered a lot of damage.

Mario Tama, Getty Images
Mario Tama, Getty Images
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If you head to certain sections of town, things are a bit unrecognizable.

There are still thousands of homes in the dark in the town and along the barrier island, it's a devastating site to see. There are floods, destroyed homes, downed trees and wires and fires that continue to burn in some spots. Thankfully, most of the people who live on the coast who were told to get out, listened.

Like many other towns up and down the Jersey Shore, the devastation is wide spread. Police and rescue teams continue to work around the clock with a lot of obstacles in their way, both professionally and personally. No one knows that better than Sergeant Keith Reinhard. He's seen a lot in his 19 years in law enforcement. He tells Townsquare Media News he's still in shock.

Reinhard explains, "I don't think any of us were really prepared for this. We hear about these types of storms in the south or other damaging weather events in the mid-west - but not here. This caught us all off guard and even though we were prepared, it hit us hard."

The death toll could have been a lot worse if more people had stayed behind. In the Mantoloking section of the barrier island which is right near Brick, about 70 were rescued during the last few days by National Guard soldiers. Reinhard says, "All of the people who were saved wished they had listened to Governor Christie when he said to evacuate. I think this changes a person's perspective, especially for the future."

Reinhard adds, "Mother Nature just went crazy. We will rebuild but I'm sure things will never be the same at the shore."

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