Temporary Head of the Harbor road opens for storm-ravaged residents

Work crews this week finished a temporary road in the Village of Head of the Harbor, giving vital access to emergency service vehicles, delivery trucks and residents of washed out Mill Creek Road.

"We’re all sleeping better," Head of the Harbor Mayor Michael Utevsky said Wednesday.

Utevsky said Smithtown Highway Department workers opened the road Tuesday. Residents said a St. James Fire Department truck was among the first vehicles to test the road.

"In case of any emergency, the residents can be reached and helped," Utevsky said.

Seven homes were cut off from the rest of the village after an Aug. 18-19 storm hit Suffolk County's North Shore hard and undermined Mill Creek Road, which runs along its namesake creek. Some residents ferried groceries by wagon, but officials worried that lack of access for heavy vehicles like fire trucks and ambulances had created a public safety hazard. The village police chief announced, but did not enforce, an evacuation order. That order has since been rescinded.

It took four days to build the 1,000 foot-long, 12 foot-wide road from nearby Emmet Drive to the drivable portion of Mill Creek, officials said. The work required permission from three homeowners who own land over which the road passes and cost about $170,000, money officials have said they hope to recoup with federal disaster aid.

Town workers will remove the road once Mill Creek Road is repaired, but it remained unclear Wednesday when that would happen.

"We are hopeful it will take less than a year," Utevsky said.

The road is owned by Ward Melville Heritage Organization, which is responsible for its rebuilding. Gloria Rocchio, the organization’s president, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, village Police Chief Charles Lohmann said he was going house to house to tell residents the evacuation order was no longer in effect.

"The Town of Smithtown did an extraordinary job," he said. "The people are thrilled."

Resident Thomas Rubio, a former auto dealer, confirmed that.

"We have access in and out," Rubio said. "It’s all good."

Up to 10 inches of rain fell on parts of Long Island during the August storm. By mid-September, more than 2,800 Suffolk residents had reported flood damage, according to county officials, who pegged total damage at more than $41 million and counting. 

On Sept. 18, Gov. Kathy Hochul requested a federal major disaster declaration for Suffolk and counties upstate.

"This declaration would grant federal recovery funding to Suffolk to cover damages and some response operations, as well as direct support for individuals and homeowners in Suffolk County," Gordon Tepper, a Hochul spokesman, said Wednesday.