Officials say the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida brought severe beach erosion to Long Island’s South Shore.
Last weekend’s high surf carried away sand and cut into the dunes at Fire Island National Seashore and Robert Moses State Park. It also damaged Suffolk County’s Smith Point Park and the Town of Babylon’s Gilgo Beach.
While the problems have reshaped the shoreline, they still pale in comparison to storms in 1992 and 1993. Those damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and other buildings.
New York State Sen. Brian Foley (D-Blue Point) called on Gov. David Paterson to declare a state of emergency for the south shore.
“It is crucial that the state of emergency be declared as quickly as possible so we can proceed with obtaining federal funds and doing the hard work necessary to make our shorelines whole again,” Foley said in a statement on Tuesday.
With The Associated Press.