Harry visits New Jersey towns devastated by Superstorm Sandy

Prince Harry surveyed scenes of devastation today in two New Jersey seaside towns that suffered the brunt of Superstorm Sandy.

Aides said the third in line to throne had specifically asked to go to the Jersey shore and meet people trying to put their lives and houses back together after meeting a US soldier in Aghanistan who had lost his home in the area in the storm last October.

With New Jersey's colourful governor, Chris Christie, as his tour guide, Harry went to the towns of Mantoloking and Seaside Heights on a slender barrier island along the Atlantic Ocean.

He flew by helicopter from New York City to Sea Girt National Guard base before driving in a motorcade to Mantoloking, where collapsed houses and buildings reduced to matchwood litter the shore.

Every one of Mantoloking's 521 homes was damaged or destroyed by Sandy last October, and scores of homes remain piles of rubble. Residents of the wealthy community, largely a summer retreat, were not allowed to move back until February.

The prince walked down a road along the Barnegat Bay side of the town where many houses were obliterated. In Seaside Heights, where MTV's reality show Jersey Shore was filmed, Harry toured the boardwalk, currently under reconstruction. He also viewed cranes working at the end of Casino Broadwalk, close to perhaps the most famous symbol of Superstorm Sandy: the remains of the Jet Star roller-coaster that toppled off an amusement pier and into the ocean. Its demolition is due to begin several hours after his visit.

New Jersey sustained about $37 billion of damage from the October 29 storm last year, which left 360,000 homes needing to be repaired. Across the US the superstorm killed 85 people and caused $75 billion damage, a total surpassed only by Hurricane Katrina. At least 285 people were killed in seven countries.

The royal visit was a coup for Governor Christie, 50, a Republican who in the days before last year's presidential election enraged some of his own party members after endorsing Democrat President Barack Obama's promise of support for New Jersey's beleaguered communities.

On the amusement arcade Harry won a blue elephant for 11-year-old Taylor Cirigliano, from Middletown. he said: “He asked me if I had won anything. I said no, and he said we are going to win you a prize. He won me this elephant, which was nice of him.

“He was really cute, and had a good personality. He liked all the kids. I think it was nice he came down here, because it puts a smile on people’s faces to know that he supports what everybody is doing.”