Yesterday’s storm dumped more than two inches of rain across much of the East End and brought 25 to 40 mph winds — gusting at times to 60 mph.
The intense coastal low arrived off the Long Island coast just after a full moon, causing astronomical high tides to peak about three feet above normal. The resulting floodwaters inundated flood-prone, low-lying areas around town.
Wind-driven surf of the Long Island Sound battered the north shore of the town. A full assessment of storm impacts has not yet been completed, Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith said in a phone interview early this morning.
The winds took down branches and power lines, causing scattered outages, with the largest outage in Riverhead Town affecting about 400 homes in Wading River, Jens-Smith said.
Riverhead Highway Superintendent George Woodson was out surveying town roads for flooding impacts and debris, he said this morning.
“It wasn’t too bad,” Woodson said. “We’ve been proactive and that helps a lot. We’ve been very agressive with dead trees and branches.”
Woodson said “five or six trees came down yesterday” in local roads and highway crews removed them right away.
Heidi Behr Way along the Peconic Riverfront was closed due to flooding yesterday. It remained inundated even after the high tide receded, Jens-Smith said.
More flooding is expected at high tide times again today, which occur just before 1 p.m. today and 1 a.m. tomorrow. The National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood warning for our area from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and from 9 o’clock tonight to 4 a.m. tomorrow.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl
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