Avalon Nature Preserve to reopen for first time since August rainstorm

After weeks of being closed due to last month’s historic rainstorms, Avalon Nature Preserve in Stony Brook announced it will reopen its trails to the public Tuesday.

Katherine Griffiths, executive director, said the preserve will operate its normal fall hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and visitors will be able to park at designated lots along Shep Jones Lane.

Griffiths said the preserve mostly experienced water damage and erosion to its trails, pushing sediment and soil into other areas. The storm also caused several trees to fall.

Preserve staff used the storm’s aftermath as an opportunity to tend to trails that had needed restoration for a long time, Griffiths said.

“We've been open since 2001 so there's been some significant foot traffic through here,” she said.

Several trails, such as land near the preserve’s yellow trail, have been rerouted due to the erosion. But since there was no physical damage to any buildings, things will mostly look the same, Griffiths said.

Preserve programs, such as its monthly Avalon Observatories program, are also in operation.

The preserve closed Aug. 19 after the North Shore experienced extreme rainfall, causing extensive damage to homes, roads and businesses.

A dam under Harbor Road, which led to one of the preserve’s entrances and was an artery between Stony Brook and the preserve, collapsed during the storm, draining Mill Pond, and damaging several homes and killing wildlife.

On Monday, state officials met with the neighboring Ward Melville Heritage Organization, which manages Mill Pond, to assess damage to the pond and the dam. The organization manages 11 acres nearby, including the private Mill Creek Road, which serves as the only outlet to seven homes in the village of Head of the Harbor.

Gloria Rocchio, the organization’s president, said she has worked closely with the Avalon Nature Preserve.

“All of us are an integral part of each other as the main access point to Stony Brook village,” Rocchio said. “We hope we get designated as a major disaster as soon as possible.”

Rocchio said state officials saw the extent of work needed to fortify the region when floodwaters washed away the section of Harbor Road, emptying the pond that serves the Stony Brook Grist Mill. She said sand still needs to be dug from the lake bed, and springs still pouring into the pond and rains are causing further erosion. 

Suffolk County officials are still collecting reports on damage, which has exceeded the threshold of $37.5 million for a FEMA Major Disaster Declaration, which allows additional federal funding for individual projects and homeowners.

State officials said Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office is still reviewing damage reports.

"The damage assessment process to secure a major disaster declaration typically takes several weeks,” Hochul’s Long Island press secretary Gordon Tepper said. “We are working hand-in-hand with our partners at all levels of government to complete this process as quickly as possible."