LI assesses beach erosion, debris cleanup in wake of pre-Christmas storm

Long Island communities affected by the pre-Christmas storm will turn their post-holiday attention to clean-up efforts that include checking on beach erosion and clearing the debris from fallen trees on the East End, and assessing the effects of flooding in Lindenhurst.

In Southampton, power has been restored to all homes, according to Ryan Murphy, the town’s public safety and emergency management administrator. While conditions are mostly back to normal, town crews will head out Tuesday to check on beaches and structures there.

There was damage from coastal erosion at beaches in the Hampton Bays area and near the Shinnecock Commercial Fishing Dock, Murphy said.

“The storm brought the largest amount of tidal surge we’ve seen since Sandy, so it definitely did cause some damages,” Murphy said. “We experienced a decent amount of coastal erosion related to the storm, so it definitely had a negative impact on our town, but we definitely survived it.”

He said the town may look to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and federal government officials to restore beach areas. The roads appear to be back to normal, although private property owners in some impacted areas had post-storm damage to their homes, Murphy said.

In Riverhead, some tree damage and minor flooding occurred along the Peconic Riverfront, but Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said Sunday that the town managed to avoid coastal damage or major impacts to roads.

She said power appears to have been restored in Aquebogue, where there were about 375 outages.

In Southold, main roads remain safe for passage as of Sunday after the storm left behind flooding and downed trees Friday, according to Dan Goodwin, Southold’s Highway Department superintendent.

Highway crews got ahead of freezing temperatures by sending salt machines out on the roads after 4 p.m. Friday, Goodwin said.

“We were able to get a lot of the flooding off the roads prior to the temperatures dropping below freezing, so that helped us out in that regard,” Goodwin said.

The bulk of the tree damage occurred in the middle to western parts of Southold, officials said. Several icy spots remain in low lying areas in town such as near creeks, according to Goodwin, and town highway crews will go out this week to sweep and pick up small debris along the town’s residential roads.

In Lindenhurst, where officials said they are still dealing with flooding, Mayor Mike Lavorata said there was no major road damage but that he will check Monday with the village’s Department of Public Works for information on damage to any residences.

East Hampton and Freeport officials did not immediately return requests for comment.

Citing “unprecedented extreme frigid temperatures” that were driving increased demand, along with natural gas pipeline disruptions, National Grid asked its 1.9 million customers in the metropolitan area, including Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, to reduce natural gas usage through Sunday afternoon

The utility later said its system was operating well and suggested customers return their thermostats to normal settings. Still, National Grid encouraged New Yorkers to remain focused on conserving energy by avoiding the use of gas appliances, such as clothes dryers and fireplaces, between 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. through Wednesday.

With Robert Brodsky