Coastal storm leaves destruction, flooding in its wake, as another is predicted for Friday

A sodden Long Island assessed the damage Wednesday after the latest in a string of severe coastal storms downed trees and utility wires, trapped vehicles on flooded streets and left thousands temporarily without power.

Low-lying South Shore communities bore the brunt of the storm that hit Tuesday night, dumping up to 3 inches of rain across the Island and sending winds gusting up to 65 mph along the coast. 

There was widespread flooding across Fire Island, where a civic association officer said he was concerned the damage could ultimately undermine the integrity of the barrier island. In Brookhaven, Supervisor Dan Panico said the flooding was “the worst … on the South Shore that I have ever seen outside of Superstorm Sandy.”

Newly installed Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency for the county, a move that could open the door for federal aid for storm recovery.

PSEG Long Island, in a Wednesday afternoon briefing, said the utility had restored power to 26,100 of its 1.2 million customers since Tuesday at 4 p.m., when the storm's high winds first started to cruise through the region. By day's end Wednesday, power was restored to all but less than 200 customers. 

But National Weather Service meteorologists warned that another storm system was expected to hit the area Friday night, bringing up to 2 inches of rain, strong surf and high winds. In vulnerable areas from Mastic to Freeport, Saturday morning's high tide will bring yet more flooding. 

Such storms have made calls for resiliency planning on Long Island more urgent in the last decade, with the changing climate predicted to bring more frequent severe weather. Wet basements, flooded roads and eroded beaches have become all too familiar.

On Wednesday in Mastic Beach, Miguel Cevero, 55, said he’d spent the day helping neighbors pump water out of their homes, towing cars stuck in the mud and helping children disembark the school bus.

“This morning the water just came up the street,” Cevero said as he hosed off his truck, a Ford F-350 whose 42-inch tires had mostly submerged during the worst of it. “ I’m used to it,” he said. “This is part of waterfront living.”

Eight miles west in Patchogue. Mayor Paul Pontieri wearily described the day as “pretty rough.” He had ordered drivers not to park or drive on flooded roads.

One restaurant, Drift 82 — “the sea is our best friend and the sun always shines on the good side of day,” the business’ website optimistically declares — was underwater for the second time in three weeks, owner John Sarno said. Sarno said cleaning would start Thursday and “barring any significant floor damage, we should be open by Friday.”

In Lindenhurst, 20 miles west, Joanne Dougherty said the waterfront road she lives on, Bayview Avenue East, had been built up two years ago but flooded nonetheless.

“I woke up at 9 a.m. and I couldn't believe it — it was like I was in the middle of the bay.”

Across the canal, Naveen Nandigum, 23, was trying to deliver Amazon packages but found himself stymied by foot-deep water near Bayview Avenue West and Atlantic Street.

“This is probably one of the worst I’ve seen,” he said.

With no confidence that his vehicle could survive the passage, he’d begun calling customers to pick up their packages from him.

Four miles southwest, new sand dumped at the entrance to Gilgo Beach eroded along with several established dunes, said George Gorman, regional director of New York State parks on Long Island. All of the beachfront at Jones Beach flooded, he said, from Field 2 to Field 6, along with parts of the Central Mall, the theater, the West End Area boat basin and the West Bathhouse. And other state parks also sustained widespread damage, Gorman said.

In Freeport, on one of the residential side streets, a reporter spotted a fish swimming next to a stranded BMW. Sections of John J. Randall Park were a lagoon.

John Vidas, who owns a commercial building on the Nautical Mile, said the place had lived up to its name.

“This was all underwater,” he said. “About a foot.”

Deidre Vinson said she’d had enough. “As soon as it rains, the expectation is my kids can't go to school and I can't get out my front door,” said Vinson, who lives near the intersection of South Ocean Avenue near Adams Street, an area laced with canals. “I have to move. It's too stressful. It's ridiculous and it's not getting better.”