Hochul sees Suffolk storm damage at Stony Brook University, vows aid to those impacted by flooding

The scope of last week’s storm that battered Suffolk County came into stark view Tuesday as Gov. Kathy Hochul visited hard-hit areas, put the damage cost at Stony Brook University at $22 million and pledged aid would soon be on the way for eligible homeowners and businesses.

Hochul stopped at Stony Brook University to assess flood damage before speaking to residents in the tiny village of Head of the Harbor and Stony Brook village, where floodwaters burst through a dam at Mill Pond, washing away roads and damaging homes.

But the storm damage extended beyond Suffolk’s North Shore communities. Floodwaters also took out the dam at Blydenburgh County Park in Hauppauge and did damage to several businesses in Commack.

'Trying to survive'

“It’s a natural disaster,” said Dr. Matthew Steinberg, owner of the Commack Veterinary Center, one of several businesses at the Bonwit Village Shopping Center that were damaged by floodwaters. "So there should be funding and help to get people not having to run around like crazy trying to survive. Government should run pretty smoothly.”

Hochul, during her stops Tuesday, said the state is committed to doing its part.

“The most important thing to do now is make sure that people know there’s a path to healing and recovery. These are treasures. These are historic sites. These are historic homes,” Hochul said. “I have no doubt in my mind, after what I’ve seen, we’ll hit that threshold, and that allows us to go and ask, not just for the emergency declaration, which is not tied to money, but to the disaster declaration, which would unleash federal dollars for us as well.”

Officials have been compiling damage estimates to submit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to apply for a major disaster declaration. While Hochul and President Joe Biden made emergency declarations, Hochul said Suffolk County must meet a $37.5 million threshold for federal funding that could assist individual homeowners.

Hochul toured the flooded dorms at Stony Brook University and walked to the edge of a destroyed bridge on Harbor Road in Stony Brook. Community residents, Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, town supervisors of Brookhaven and Smithtown and Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) joined her.

Storm damage up close

She praised interim university President Richard McCormick for leading recovery efforts at the school. Damage included up to 9 feet of water in the basement of some dorms, seven elevators disabled and other academic buildings impacted.

The group also walked up the private Mill Creek Road, which was destroyed and is the only artery to seven homes in Head of the Harbor.

Much of the land is owned on 11 acres by the nonprofit Ward Melville Heritage Organization. Gloria Rocchio, the organization’s president, said she hopes repairs can be made to the dam in the next year to fill the pond and repair Harbor Road. The organization also owns Mill Creek Road, but Rocchio asked Hochul to review an engineering report to help make repairs.

Hochul told her, “there is no choice” but to build back and with stronger more resilient infrastructure.

“It’s very important and having the governor's support as she indicated, all of us came away hopeful,” Rocchio said. “We need a lot of help and a lot of money and everyone is focused on getting it done.”

Construction on an emergency access road to the Mill Creek residents is expected to begin in the next week to allow services such as trash pickup and access to school buses.

Biden signed an emergency declaration Sunday to cover 75% of federal funding repairs in Suffolk County, but officials said that funding is for local governments to repair infrastructure and does not include individual assistance for homeowners.

Grant applications

A damage threshold must be met to trigger individual aid, release FEMA dollars and potentially prompt a response from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, federal officials said.

Hochul said residents will also be able to submit applications in the coming days for grants up to $50,000 through the state’s Homes and Community Renewal website for flood damage. The grants cover flood damage that may have been denied by insurance companies or not covered by flood insurance, Hochul said.

The governor’s office increased the threshold for eligible applicants to 150% of the area median income, up to $234,000 for residents, due to unprecedented weather events.

“If you earn that or less, you are eligible. I want to make sure that we cover communities like this as best we can,” Hochul said.

LaLota asked Hochul to further expand income eligibility for homeowners on Long Island to apply for grants.

At the Bonwit Village Shopping Center, floodwaters rose 4 feet inside several businesses after the storm basin behind the mall overflowed overnight between Aug. 18 and 19.

The 11 tenants in the shopping center have been devastated by structural damage and equipment losses, and since the property is not in a flood zone, they don’t have flood insurance, said Anastasia Tsunis, who co-owns the property with her family.

Unanswered questions

Tenants are applying for government grants to help them rebuild, but there are unanswered questions about whether the basin was being maintained properly by the state and what is being done to prevent the flooding from occurring again, she said.

Steinberg, a veterinary surgeon who has had his office at the shopping center for 30 years, relocated to a temporary office on Jericho Turnpike in Commack and will begin accepting appointments Wednesday.

Dortoni Bakery Co. is the only tenant that has reopened in the shopping center, but it is not fully operational.

The fact that Dortoni has four other Long Island bakeries has been a saving grace for the Commack shop, said Daniele Messina, who co-owns the business with his family.

He estimates that it will cost at least $200,000 to rebuild the bakery and replace the destroyed equipment.

“The kitchen is under construction, so that’s a problem. The production is very slow. We’re making things at other stores,” he said.