Three-day nor'easter departs region, leaving Long Islanders to clean up fallen trees, flooding

The storm that swept across Long Island, flooding roads, toppling trees, eroding beaches and knocking out power for thousands, slowly lurched out of the region Monday, with the forecast calling for a dry, sunny week ahead.

The nor'easter, a type of weather system that usually hits Long Island somewhat later in the year, was unrelenting from its start Friday overnight with powerful wind gusts that hit over the weekend to the continuing light rain that kept the ground saturated on Monday morning.

"It is unusual but not quite unprecedented for a nor’easter to linger for so long," said Jase Bernhardt, an associate professor of geology, environment and sustainability at Hofstra. "It is possible that the time of year played a role, as the ‘blocking' pattern that allowed this storm to linger for so long would be more likely to occur at this time of year versus during the winter, when nor'easters are more common.” 

Monday, Long Islanders concentrated on cleaning up — cutting up downed trees, drying out basements, sweeping up debris brought by flooding and the wind-swept rain, assessing beach erosion and restoring power. 

As of 4 p.m. Monday, PSEG Long Island said it has restored power to more than 97% of customers, with 3,145 of 1.2 million electric customers across Long Island and the Rockaways without power. 

"Since Friday morning, the three-day storm has caused more than 128,000 outages, the vast majority of which have been restored or are expected to be restored by the end of today," PSEG Long Island said, with more than 2,000 fallen trees and branches impacting power.

The utility said "most of the current outages now located throughout Suffolk County and in Great Neck and Locust Valley in Nassau County.

In Suffolk County, winds hit 81 mph early Saturday, In Nassau, Bayville reported gusts of 54 mph at about 7 a.m. on Sunday, the highest in the county, according to the National Weather Service.

Rain ends, then a brighter week

National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Ramsey said Monday that rain will linger through the area and begin to clear out by 10 p.m.

Ramsey said the storm is mostly over: "We're not expecting like any real heavy showers ..." Ramsey said.

The service said vulnerable areas could see up to one foot of flooding. Drivers were urged not to try to drive through the inundated areas.

But better days are ahead, forecasters said.

Tuesday will be the start of a long stretch of sunny skies and dry conditions "all the way through Saturday," with highs in the upper 60s and lower 70s, Ramsey said. "We'll get a nice, good period to dry out," he said.

The weather service recorded 3.09 inches of rain in Central Islip by Sunday evening, with 1 to 2 inches more expected.

Trees, power lines down

The combination of wind and rain led to the downing of trees and power lines all over Long Island.

In Oyster Bay Town, about 75 trees fell on roadways, Supervisor Joseph Saladino said. He noted about 30% of the fallen trees were in Massapequa.

By the end of Monday, Saladino said, the town expects to have cleared all roads.

“Crews will continue to go out, and by the end of day, they’ll have everything cut up and stacked to go out throughout the week to the landfill,” Saladino said Monday.

Some trees got caught in PSEG lines on West Shore Drive and on Algonquin Avenue in Massapequa, he said.

Saladino said lots of residents have suffered property damage, with flooded basements and trees on falling roofs.

“It’s really a pain in the neck for everyone,” he said. “We’ll have everything cleaned up.”

Mike Zaleski, Riverhead Town’s highway superintendent, said the town received about five to six inches of rain with winds up to 60 miles per hour. About 40 trees or big branches had to be cleared from roads.

“I’m looking down the road right now, and we don’t want to see any more storms," he said.

There were temporary closures on Meeting House Creek Road and Peconic Bay Boulevard on Saturday due to flooding, Zaleski said. Aside from the immediate cleanup, which will take about two weeks, Zaleski said he didn’t anticipate any long-term impact from the storm.

“We’re finishing removing trees and limbs that fell down on the roadways, a lot of them are pushed off to the side now," he said.

As of Monday afternoon, Babylon had responded to 125 tree-related issues, said Vincent Piccoli, commissioner of the town’s department of public works. He said about 98% of those incidents had been resolved and the remainder involve waiting on assistance from PSEG.

Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said about 400 locations town wide had downed trees or large branches, some blocking streets. On Monday, 137 of them remained, with 21 locations requiring PSEG assistance with branches entangled in electrical wires.

Flooded roads, Jones Beach damage

The storm left its mark, especially on the South Shore, causing beach erosion and extensive flooding, the meteorologist said.

“The challenge for this particular storm was its prolonged nature. We had significant pumping both in anticipation and throughout the town, especially in our low-lying coastal communities," said Town of Islip Supervisor, Angie Carpenter, who added that, over the course of seven high-tide cycles, the town used three tanker trucks and seven hydraulic super pumpers to address the flooding. 

Carpenter said all of the town's roads were open and passable Monday. The cleanup will continue for the remainder of the work week.

In Amityville Village, Mayor Mike O’Neill said there the flooding was made worse by the length of the storm.

“It’s the reality of South Shore communities,” O’Neill said. “There was significant coastal and street flooding, not to the degree of Sandy by any means, but more so than prior nor’easters due to the fact that it was a multiple-event cycle.”

He said in areas that traditionally see flooding, the water reached further than usual, including Riverside Avenue which flooded from the south end up to Montauk Highway.

At Jones Beach, damage included the orchestra pit and concessions areas of the Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, said George Gorman, regional director of Long Island parks. Promoter Live Nation was assessing whether damage could be fixed in time for a Wednesday concert by Logic & G-Eazycq, he said.

Elsewhere at Jones Beach, he said, there was more damage on the island’s north side than the south side. A wall of sand protecting the park's central mall held, and the boardwalk was open Monday, Gorman added.

“We have no damage on the central mall whatsoever. None,” he said. “The damages on the bay side were significantly worse than the damage on the ocean side.

The Village of Lindenhurst, Mayor Mike Lavorata said had flooding south of Montauk Highway. While it wasn't quite as bad as expected, he added: “But that doesn’t matter for the people down there dealing with it. Whether it’s two inches or 10 inches, if it gets in your garage or impedes onto your property and causes damage, it doesn’t matter.”

Lavorata said during a lull in the rain on Saturday, workers turned on a pump on South 8th Street that is designed to use after storms to get residual water off the street. He said it helped make the road “a lot more passable” until high tide came in again.

In North Hempstead, Shore Road, a highly trafficked thoroughfare that connects the Port Washington peninsula to the rest of the town, had to be closed twice because of flooding Saturday and Sunday, Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said.

The Baxter Estates road has long suffered from coastal erosion and is undergoing a $7.7 million restoration project. “It was not passable until the tide went out," DeSena said. “Hopefully once that project is finished, it won’t be a regular occurrence."

The parking lot at North Hempstead Beach Park also flooded, DeSena said, resulting in the cancellation of the weekend-long Greek Festival on the Harbor.

Riverhead officials warned of flooding up to 2 feet in waterfront and shoreline areas until 2 p.m. on Monday. They urged drivers not to try to drive through the inundated areas.