New Jersey family raises 1929 home to protect it from flooding

A New Jersey family home bought in 1929 has survived generations of change, but rising flood risks eventually forced its owner to rethink how it could be preserved. Located on Cedar Bonnet Island beside Barnegat Bay, the house narrowly escaped damage during Superstorm Sandy in 2012 because it had been temporarily raised for construction work. That unexpected escape prompted Amanda Devecka-Rinear to take a closer look at the building's vulnerability. Rather than risk losing a property filled with family memories, she decided to raise it permanently.Why raising the New Jersey family home became essentialAccording to NPR's report, Devecka-Rinear's great-grandfather bought the house in 1929. It later passed to her grandmother, making the property an important link between generations of the family.The house stood close to the ground, leaving it vulnerable to flooding in the coastal community. For Devecka-Rinear, however, it was not simply a building that could be replaced.