Stormy weekend for the South Shore

A severe storm weathered through the night of January 9 into the morning of January 10, resulting in serious damage along the South Shore of Long Island. The strong winds and heavy rain from the nor’easter, compounded by a storm surge and high tide from a full moon, caused fallen trees and major flooding in the area.

While the South Shore of Long Island is a coveted location due to close proximity to the Great South Bay, the low-lying areas along the South Shore get the brunt of the flooding during severe weather. West Islip Marina Park, located at the terminus of Beach Road, experienced flooding that submerged little league fields on the premises. The South Shore of Bay Shore near the Bay Shore marina, is another low-lying, heavily impacted area. Islip Town Councilman Michael McElwee surveyed the damage.

“I know that Lakehouse is fortunately about 6 six feet above, so they did not have any water in the building,” relayed Councilman McElwee. “But the area around the parking lots was completely submerged. And Captain Bill’s is very similar too. They were actually closed for renovations, but they had a little bit of water come into the building.”

Additionally, Chowder Bar, located on Maple Avenue, had over 18 inches of water inside the restaurant.

Flooding was not the only damage caused by the storm; extreme winds resulted in fallen trees, including a fallen tree on Gibson Street in Bay Shore that took down telephone poles. Multiple trees also collapsed due to the storm in the Village of Brightwaters.
Heavy flooding was observed in Brightwaters along the canal and the bulkheads at Gilbert Park, flooding the streets along Concourse West. Along with the flooded streets, Brightwaters residents also had flooding within their own homes.

“There were a lot of reports of basements flooding. People who didn’t have water in their basements before had wet basements,” revealed Brightwaters Mayor John Valdini. “This was a severe storm, and it came out of nowhere. A lot of people were saying that they had not seen it this bad since Hurricane Sandy, and I kind of agree.”
Prior to the storm, both the Village of Brightwaters and the Town of Islip sent out storm warnings to residents for strong winds and coastal flooding through email. Residents were urged to avoid driving on flooded roads, and warned of potential power outages and fallen trees.

Another storm is expected to impact the South Shore Friday night into Saturday morning. The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory in the Town of Islip for January 12, 10:00 p.m. until January 13, 6:00 a.m., as well as a Coastal Flood Warning for January 13, 7:00 a.m. until January 13, 6:00 p.m.. On Friday night, winds could gust as high as 46 mph. The Town of Islip is taking precautionary measures to minimize potential damage to areas already impacted by the previous storm.

“When storms are predicted, we check to ensure that storm drains are clear, and pumps are functioning prior to the arrival of a storm,” explained Islip Town Supervisor, Angie Carpenter. “Once flooding occurs, we work to pump those areas as quickly as possible, to make sure that residents and emergency services have access. We have been working to aggressively expand our drainage infrastructure throughout our Town.”
As the next storm approaches, stay safe, and remember to drive carefully.