A dump truck builds up an eroded section of Robert Moses State Park Beach with transplanted sand in Babylon, N.Y., Monday, March 29, 2010. The latest batch of heavy rains in the New York area pose a flood concern, especially on the Long Island beaches. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Long Islanders were still recovering from a deadly nor’easter that left more than 150,000 without power earlier this month when another big storm rolled ashore with record rainfall, flooding streets and battering already eroded beaches while officials worked to protect the shore.
“A lot of these beaches have been pounded this month already, especially by the storm a couple of weeks ago, so a lot of these areas that haven’t been repaired yet, they’re taking another pounding,” said Richard Castro of the National Weather Service station at Upton. The center of the storm passed 100 miles south of Southampton mid-afternoon Tuesday, he said.
The storm also topped the rainfall record for the month of March in Islip with 9.14 inches shortly after noon. The 2001 record was 8.38 inches. The result has been widespread reports of basement flooding, Castro added.
A high-surf advisory was issued due to 14-foot southwest waves offshore that were up to 8-feet upon reaching the south shore. That, combined with the higher-than-normal tide, resulted in a coastal flood advisory that is in effect through 2 a.m. Wednesday. Gusts of 35 mph are expected.
Tides inundated a 20-mile stretch of oceanfront road in Southampton while Riverhead Town Police issued a warning Tuesday morning for drivers to stay off of the roads except in case of an emergency due to extensive coastal flooding.
To combat beach erosion, parks officials began replacing 200,000 cubic yards of sand at Robert Moses State Park’s Field 5 where erosion began eating into the dunes. Officials also dumped 15,000 cubic yards of sand near West Gilgo Beach over the weekend where the Atlantic Ocean had come within 60 feet of Ocean Parkway.
A beachgoer walks along an eroded section of Robert Moses State Park Beach in Babylon, N.Y., Monday, March 29, 2010. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
“We’re in a much more vulnerable situation than we normally would be so every storm that comes with northeast winds makes our situation worse,” said Ronald Foley, Long Island regional director for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. “Those sustained high-velocity winds cause the erosion to accelerate and that’s what we’re dealing with now.”
Foley added that there has not been any serious erosion at Jones Beach State Park, although there has been some serious flooding at Zach’s Bay. The Moses project will fix storm damage done over the past decade and create 300 feet of beach by summertime.
Further east on Fire Island, sandbagging had already been underway in front of oceanfront homes in Point ‘O Points, a resort community on the island’s west end. The community had opted out of a multi-million dollar beach replenishment project organized by most of the other 16 communities on the island last year.
Paula Valentine, spokeswoman for the Fire Island National Seashore, said: “It’s certainly shifting sand around, which is just a normal part of the process and in some areas there’s not a noticeable difference, a few areas might be gaining a little sand between storms and then other areas it is more pronounced that there is obvious narrowing of the beach.”
Meanwhile, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) inspectors arrived on LI this week to assess damage caused by the March 13 storm in order to provide grant funding to those who suffered extensive property damage. The previous storm included wind gusts of up to 70 mph, toppling trees onto homes, cars—in one case fatally striking an elderly Bay Shore woman.
Residents are urged to keep an inventory of all of their uninsured losses in order to report for FEMA aid and, if they are eligible, low interest loans from the United States Small Business Administration.
Rain has been falling in the area since Sunday and was expected to persist into Wednesday. Some areas of Long Island received 6 to 7 inches in the storm.
High winds were scarce, though, and fears that falling trees would cause widespread power outages were unrealized as of midday. Both Con Ed and the Long Island Power Authority, which had to restore power to hundreds of thousands of people after a storm earlier this month, reported only minor problems.
