Neighborliness Shines Through Irene's Thick Clouds

Fred McPeek has seen this all before.

In 1985 McPeek moved into his Beach Drive home in the Cliffwood Beach section of Aberdeen Township.

Just two months after he settled into his new place, he had to evacuate for Hurricane Gloria.

"I had no idea what to think. I had just gotten here," McPeek said.

McPeek didn't brace his home for Hurricane Gloria but luckily only sustained damage to his front screen door. As Hurricane Irene threatens the coast though, he isn't taking any chances.

And he isn't doing it alone.

"You have to stick by your friends," said Ed Modrak, as he helped measure a piece of plywood to board up McPeek's second floor windows.

Modrak and his wife moved in next door to McPeek six years ago. And even though Modrak has never experienced anything like Hurricane Irene at his home near the Raritan Bay, he believes the only way to get through it is to stand united.

The neighbors spent Saturday afternoon preparing for the mandatory evacuation of level one flood zones in Aberdeen.

As a low lying road along the bay, Beach Drive is prone to flooding to storms with much less rain than the high levels predicted for Hurricane Irene.

Many of the residents along the street taped their windows with large silver, duct tape X's to prevent shattered glass in the event a windblown item crashes into the house.

Modrak was taking extra precautions and boarding his second floor window, he said, because it is the only window that is single-paned.

Both families are headed inland to stay at hotels while Hurricane Irene barrels along the coast.

And although they will travel separate ways and leave their homes at Irene's mercy, their neighborly friendship will remain intact.

"Neighbors stick together," Madrok said.