SHELTERS: Where To Go

So far, the following shelters are being mobilized, although only Toms River, Pinelands, Wall, and a few Atlantic County shelters are pet-friendly: 

Barnegat 

Brackman Middle School, Barnegat Boulevard, Barnegat (scheduled to open at noon today)

Howell 

Reception centers are being established to take residents to larger shelters across the county. (scheduled to open at 3 p.m. on Sunday)

Adelphia Fire Department Substation, 993 Highway 33

Southard Fire Station, Route 9 and New Friendship Road

Ramtown Fire Station, 88 Ramtown Greenville Road

Middletown

Shuttles to county shelters will leave from Croydon Hall, 900 Leonardville Road, New Monmouth. 

Pleasantville

Pleasantville High School, 701 Mill Road

Pleasantville Middle School, 801 Mill Road

Point Pleasant

Point Pleasant Borough High School

Stafford
Southern Regional High School, Cedar Bridge Ave., Manahawkin (scheduled to open at noon today)

Toms River
Toms River High School North, 1245 Old Freehold Road, Toms River, 08753. Opened 4 p.m. Sunday Oct. 28. Toms River Hurricane Emergency Hotline for 4 p.m. Sunday and onward: 732-818-9901.

 1225 Raider Way, Toms River, 08753. Shelter will open 9 a.m. Monday Oct. 29. Toms River Hurricane Emergency Hotline for 4 p.m. Sunday and onward: 732-818-9901.

Tuckerton
Pinelands Regional Middle School

Wall
The Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center located at 4240 County Road 524 in Wall is serving as one of two shelters being established by the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management. Residents should seek out their municipal reception center to be transported to the county shelter. Accepts pets. 

West Long Branch
The Multipurpose Activity Center in Monmouth University, which is located at 400 Cedar Avenue in West Long Branch, is serving as one of two shelters being established by the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management. Residents should seek out their municipal reception center to be transported to the county shelter.

As other shelters open, Patch will update this story. Also, locations are updated on the Red Cross website, www.redcross.org and the Red Cross' Hurricane app, which can be downloaded to the Iphone or Droid.

Another option for residents is to call 211.

In Monmouth County, shelters will be located in Wall at Brisbane Center and at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, but Monmouth residents looking for evacuation shelters are asked first to report to their respective municipal reception centers.

Surf City resident Everett Dyer was at the Wave gas station in Ship Bottom, filling up his gas tank and getting ready for the impending storm. He's worried about going to a place that doesn't have pets.

"I have pets, I can't go anywhere," Dyer told another Long Beach Island man, who was also getting gas at the station. "Plus, my neighbor is in Cancun and I am taking care of his pets as well."

Pets have traditionally been the biggest impediment to people leaving their homes during severe storms, according to Harvey Cedars Police Chief Tom Preiser. But for Hurricane Sandy, Preiser and Stafford Police Chief Joseph Giberson made sure that evacuees - and their furry family members - have places to go.

Giberson said yesterday that both the Toms River and Pinelands shelters will accept pets as well as their human companions during Hurricane Sandy.

Giberson recalled the last time that the Pinelands shelter was  activated, there were "more than just dogs and cats. We had all kinds of animals over there, snakes, everything," he said. Pets are expected to be in a carrier or on a leash, and evacuees should provide food for their animals.