Guadagno: 'Get The Heck Back On The Beach'; Christie Advises Same & Tours Flood Damage

WAYNE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Shortly before Hurricane Irene dealt a blow to the Garden State, Gov. Chris Christie sternly warned constituents along the Jersey Shore to "get the hell off the beach."

Though parts of New Jersey are still faced with flooding dangers, shore communities were not hit as hard as expected, prompting state officials to say "get the heck back on the beach." Those words came from Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno Tuesday in an interview with 1010 WINS.

"The beautiful part about this storm is that it took a little bit of a turn and it did not hit the shore communities as we expected. So the lights are on, the beaches are open and the sun is out," Guadagno said.

Monday night, Christie urged people to head to the Jersey Shore for the Labor Day weekend and predicted that there would be a lot of vacancies because of Irene.

"Be an opportunist," Christie said. "You'll probably get a good price."

Aside of championing the state's tourism industry, Christie toured flood-ravaged parts of the state, including Wayne.

Valerie Meter broke down in tears as she made her plea for help from the governor.

"Just please try to fix this problem. I mean, I just moved here in December and I've now lost my whole first floor of my house," she said weeping.

Meter then took Christie on a tour of her home, which had floors covered with mud and many possessions destroyed. The governor vowed an independent investigation to find out whether the decision to open the Pompton Lakes flood gates was the right one.

"You've heard enough from folks like this who have lived here on the ground -- you got to start taking it into account. Maybe tell the engineers they got to start re-thinking what they're doing," Christie said.