By Tony Hanson

CAPE MAY, N.J. (CBS) — Cape May was near the center of Hurricane Sandy’s path, and it was fierce. Nearly a foot of rain fell in Cape May County. There was some damage, some flooding, but Mayor Ed Mahaney says the storm’s ultimate path spared the New Jersey shore town.

“At the last eleventh hour, so to speak, the storm hit land at 6 p.m. up in the Sea Isle City, Ocean City area,” Mahaney says, “which means it was two-and-a-half hours ahead of our high tide, and we were south of the storm. So, on that venture, the winds change from the north to the west and allowed the wind to blow back the surge at the high tide at 8:30 (Monday) night, and that saved us extensive flooding.”

And for the most part, it appeared, cleanup and repairs would be just a matter of days.