A pooch with a purpose spurred Stony Brook couple to flee flooded home

The first message something could be up with the weather outside was delivered by Snowy, their 18-month-old powder-white bichon, according to Stony Brook newlyweds Ron Borgese and Hui Yan.

While the married couple of about a month slept early Monday, a powerful thunderstorm was in the midst of belting Stony Brook and Suffolk County with a rain deluge that would eventually cause as much as an estimated $75 million in damage for the county.

Snowy, meanwhile "was barking and made me wake up," Yan said Monday as she and her husband assessed flood damage that resulted in their home being condemned and the couple being "devastated."

The basement of the home began to flood, and fast, another message it was "more than just rain," Borgese said. That was about 2:30 a.m. Later, officials confirmed that the nearby Mill Pond dam had burst.

"It was rising so quickly," he recalled of the cascading floodwaters. "I said ‘let’s get out of here.’ "

And they did, seeking refuge for themselves and Snowy, who Borgese referred to as "the savior," in a hotel before returning Monday afternoon to assess the damage to their home at the corner of Main Street and Harbor Road.

"A tree fell on our master suite, and we wake up today and that side of the house is no longer there," Borgese said, adding that their bedroom is now "somewhere down in Stony Brook Harbor."

Next door neighbor Rob Taylor said he witnessed water coming down Main Street "like a river" in the early morning hours Monday. He tended to some flooding in his basement before getting back into bed. A few minutes later, Taylor said, he heard "a loud noise" and suspected it was the dam bursting.

"It’s sad, but we were safe," Taylor said minutes before hugging Yan and Borgese.

The couple, who bought their home about nine months ago, said they planned to spend Tuesday afternoon shopping, Borgese said, as the only possessions they had were the clothes on their backs.

"So as sad as it is, we're very blessed, we could have been even more affected in a worse way than we were," he said.

With Nicholas Grasso and Maureen Mullarkey