Suffolk officials assess damage from torrential rainfall that devastated county

The overnight storm that rocked northern Suffolk County may have caused up to $75 million worth of damage, county officials said Monday evening, as they assessed the impact of the extreme flooding that inundated homes and burst dams.

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine stood before a rapidly draining Blydenburgh Lake Monday in Blydenburgh County Park, which he said contains "hundreds of thousands" of gallons of water — the result of an approximately 60-foot long concrete dam bursting, flooding a portion of Jericho Turnpike and threatening the county’s only indigenous trout population.

The park damage was just some of the devastation wrought on Suffolk by the storms. The extreme rainfall flooded houses and roads, burst two dams, drained two bodies of water and impacted the Long Island Rail Road. 

Meteorologists said between 6 and 10 inches of rain fell overnight Sunday into Monday. The highest rainfall amounts on Long Island occurred in Miller Place and Stony Brook, which both recorded more than 9 inches, according to the weather service. And more rain fell Monday night.

Seeking state, federal aid

The extent of the damage has prompted county officials to appeal for state and federal aid.

"We are looking for FEMA and the state to assist," Romaine said. "They are going to work with the county, towns and villages to restore and build back much of what was damaged."

The county executive pointed to the damage in Stony Brook, Rocky Point and Sound Beach as representative examples of what Suffolk had experienced.

"In Stony Brook, we suffered major damage: the Mill Pond is gone; six houses damaged; cesspools, personal items, all floating toward Long Island Sound," Romaine said. "In Rocky Point and Sound Beach, where you have hilly terrain leading to the sound, we saw mudslides that the top of every car in the street was covered in mud, because you had a 6-to-8-foot mudslide that encompassed those areas," he said.

Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro said catch basins were overflowing with mud, leading to additional flooding. He said it is the third rainstorm in the past decade with more than 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. 

Romaine said an early estimate of the grand sum of all these damages was "at least $25," but as the hours passed Monday, he said "that estimate is climbing to well over $50 million." Suffolk County Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr. said he "wouldn’t be surprised if we go to $60 to $75 million."

The storm could also prove damaging to Long Island’s tourism economy.

"We are in the middle of what is still the summer tourist season, and we’re in the largest and oldest county park, an avid fishery, an avid hiking destination," the comptroller added. "We get thousands of people that come all season long to take benefit of this and here we are in a safety compromised situation."

Romaine said he will meet with a representative from Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office Tuesday morning, and expressed the hope that Gov. Kathy Hochul "will consider declaring parts of northern Suffolk County a disaster area" so homeowners who were affected can qualify for disaster relief funds."

Gordon Tepper, Long Island press secretary for Hochul, said in a statement:  "The State has been in regular contact with Suffolk County officials and is providing support to our local partners."

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) released a letter signed by the other members of the Long Island congressional delegation urging the governor to declare a state of emergency in the county.

"Long Island has been hit hard by this extreme weather event, and our communities are facing significant challenges in the aftermath," the letter said. "The road collapse in Stony Brook is just one example of the severe damage that has occurred in our communities."

"Keep all your receipts," Romaine urged impacted homeowners as they catalog and repair damages. "We have to put all the money out first before we get any money back."

One such homeowner, Roxanne Basandella, said for the first time in the 15 years she had lived in Smithtown, her finished basement flooded. "All my couches had to go in the garbage, my table, everything had to get thrown out," she said.

Long Island Rail Road officials announced late Monday that service was fully restored on the Port Jefferson Branch. It had been suspended earlier Monday in both directions between Kings Park and Port Jefferson, as Suffolk officials worked to repair damage to the burst dam in Blydenburgh Park that caused the Nissequogue River to flood onto the LIRR’s tracks.

At Stony Brook University, move-in day was canceled for Monday and Tuesday due to flooding, according to a statement emailed to the campus community, It said flooding damage was still being assessed and urged students to check their university email for updates. 

Road collapses in Stony Brook

Harbor Road in Stony Brook collapsed Monday around 3:15 a.m. due to flooding from the heavy rain, causing the pond at Grist Mill to completely drain, Suffolk police said.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico posted a video of the road collapsing on social media, describing the incident as "catastrophic." The flooding led to the evacuations of 10 houses, Panico said. 

Panico said repairing the road would take tens of millions of dollars and would not be completed anytime soon. 

"Hundreds of gallons of water, fish and turtles are downstream. This section of Harbor Road that was washed out was a catastrophe," Panico said. "The North Shore has been ravaged."

He pointed to damage across Brookhaven Town.

"Stony Brook is the worst," Panico said Monday morning. "We have washouts at road endings in Sound Beach and Rocky Point. We have a house falling into a sinkhole right now on Thompson Hay Path [in East Setauket, and] another house in Terryville falling into a sump."

"This is an environmental and economic disaster," Panico said. 

The flooding created a disaster for Ron Borgese and Hui Yan, who were married about a month ago at the home at the corner of Main Street and Harbor Road in Stony Brook  they purchased around nine months ago. The Mill Pond flooding has resulted in their home being condemned, leaving them "devastated," Borgese said.

"We were here and we decided to evacuate around 2:30 [a.m.] after the basement started profusely flooding," Borgese said. "It just seemed like more than just rain. It was rising so quickly I said ‘let’s get out of here.’"

The couple and Snowy, their 18-month-old white bichon, who Yan said "was barking and made me wake up," sought refuge in a hotel until they returned to their home Monday afternoon, about 30 minutes before thunder crashed overhead, preceding a shower.

"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 in Stony Brook "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, he said he heard "a loud noise" he believes was the dam bursting around 2:50 a.m.

"It’s sad but we were safe," Taylor said minutes before hugging his neighbors.

Multiple water rescues were reported overnight Sunday into Monday across Suffolk, including in Nesconset, Ronkonkoma, Smithtown and St. James.

Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner, after touring Rocky Point, Sound Beach and Miller Place, said she was stunned by the damage.

"I’ve lived in Rocky Point for 35 years. I’ve never seen anything like it," she said ,describing water lines up to first-floor windows in many houses and vehicles completely submerged.

Rocky Point firefighters rescued several people early Monday morning who were trapped by floodwaters, including a couple trapped in their attic.

Firefighters responded to 31 calls early Monday morning, primarily between 1 and 3:30 a.m., including 18 calls for flooding and five calls for people trapped, Assistant Fire Chief Sean Martin said.

Two of the rescues were on Hagerman Landing Road. An elderly couple reported they were trapped in their single-story home with water up to their necks. They climbed into their attic with their dogs while they waited for firefighters to arrive, Martin said.

"We were able to save them but didn’t know they had gone to the attic," Martin said. "They were wet. I don’t know if they would have been whisked away from the floodwaters."

The couple, who were not identified, were taken to a hospital for observation but suffered no obvious injuries, Martin said.

Firefighters also had to use boats from Sound Beach and Brookhaven to assist with flooding rescues.

Riverhead Town, which was also affected, said in a release the state is asking residents to fill out forms indicating their damage from the recent storms. The information does not guarantee assistance but gives officials a sense of the scope of the damage, the release said. The form is here.