Hurricane Irene


*Locals fare better than usual*
Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce President Lari Fiala had about 10 customers on Friday when the hurricane predictions were dire. “People said they were getting supplies and food,” she said. On Saturday, she closed The Colony Shop at 1 p.m., and then sat out the lashing weather with chips, dips and steak at her home north of Montauk Highway. Niece Lori Belmonte, who was in the flood zone, was on a waiting list for a shelter because of her dog. Instead, they both hunkered down in the store. “I think most of the shops closed between noon and 2 p.m. on Saturday,” Fiala said. “Basically, as soon as it started pouring.” Mascot Dock was hardest hit and will probably be closed until next summer for repairs, Pontieri said. “There are so many washouts in the road and missing planks,” he said. “We’ll have security there 24/7. The frame and bulk heading are fine but the water came three and four feet over the dock and dashed the pieces in the front.” The damage, Pontieri estimates, will range from $750,000 to $1 million. “We hope we’re eligible for FEMA money,” Pontieri said. The Patchogue Village Pool is currently closed and will reopen for the weekend. “There’s damage to the pumps,” Pontieri said. As for the downed trees, “the biggest problem isn’t the ability to clear them, it’s getting LIPA in to just disconnect the wiring or tell you it’s a telephone or cable line,” he said. “I would say along the roads that impact travel, there are 50 to 75 trees or large limbs, and we haven’t gotten to all the streets,” said Joe Dean, superintendent of public works for Patchogue Village. The only trees we cut were not entangled in wires and crossing a road and preventing traffic from getting through. We’ve been responding since 6 a.m. Saturday morning with just a few breaks. We have about a dozen staff attacking this problem and we brought in an outside contractor.” Patchogue Village Mayor Paul Pontieri said evacuation plans began in the middle of the week with Patchogue Fire Department Chief Joe Perry, the Patchogue Ambulance Company and Suffolk County Police. After the evacuation call from Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko urging those south of Montauk Highway to leave, Pontieri said everyone had to be closed by 10 p.m. Saturday. At 5 p.m. on Friday, Pontieri declared an	executive order for a state of emergency. “Flower baskets were taken down,” he said. “We screwed down every garbage can top and flags. Anything considered a projectile was secured and strapped down. We set up our own emergency operation center at the Ambulance Company on West Main Street with the fire chief and municipal entities.” Pontieri credited Perry for the razor-sharp coordination. A dispatch was set up at the Patchogue Ambulance Company; they received 200 calls. The village received 15. “It was amazing to see,” said Village Attorney Brian Egan of the several entities who gathered for the coordination efforts. “It was like a war room.” Lesko, he said, held three conference calls with nine village mayors to coordinate the villages who had services and targeting which villages could fill in service gaps. The village provided a bus to shelters from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the hour. “We delivered to every resident a notice that if you wanted to be evacuated, you would be,” he said. “You had to show up at Village Hall.” About 30 residents were escorted onto the buses and taken to Sachem East High School. The water came up as far as Gilbert Street and just before Patchogue Street on Cedar Avenue and to Leo on South Ocean, a little less than a quarter mile from the bay, Pontieri said. “I grew up on Cedar and this is the farthest I’ve seen it come,” Pontieri said. “Bill Rouse is a 68-year resident on Cedar and he said it was the highest he’s seen since 1947.” Christopher Capobianco lives on Cedar Avenue, two blocks south of the Long Island Railroad but didn’t evacuate. “This neighborhood isn’t prone to flooding,” he said. “We were lucky. Our cable and telephone went in and out, but otherwise we had a nice weekend with the family.” Paula Valentine, Fire Island National Seashore spokesperson, said water flooded their grounds and basement at their headquarters on Laurel Street next to the Patchogue River, but didn’t enter the main part of the building. “Saturday we left and moved things out and it was still relatively dry then, but overnight the water came up.” They had power but phone service was still out as of Monday. The Davis Park Ferry ran regular ferry service on Friday; then suspended it after noon on Saturday, said owner Matt Sherman. As for Watch Hill, no onewas	allowed over after the 3 p.m. ferry on Saturday. “Everyone came back at 5:45 p.m.,” he said. Ferry service was back again Tuesday morning. Sherman’s Davis Park Ferry headquarters office at Sandspit off Brightwood Street was under a foot and a half of water. “We were well prepared for it and are vacuuming out the mud,” he said on Monday. “The Davis Park marina got hit,” he said. “The beachfront did very well and we actually gained beach. Electricity was shut off on Saturday at 5 p.m. on all of Fire Island. It’s being turned on community by community.” “Three piers within the marina were destroyed,” said Councilman Tim Mazzei. “We estimate half the marina slip was damaged. “They’ll go over and start removing floating debris and have it open for Labor Day but with limited space.” The Patchogue-Medford School District had arrangements to use the Saxton Middle School for a shelter but was not contacted for its use for Hurricane Irene, said District Clerk Dennis Logan. According to preliminary reports, the district’s buildings came through unscathed, he said. “We may have a couple of trees down,” he said. Logan, who lives three blocks from the bay, is close to the Patchogue River and didn’t evacuate, said the biggest threat was from onlookers driving through the flooded streets creating water wakes. “People were pulling into blocked off streets,” he said. “It was like the road blocks were suggestions, instead of mandatory off limit warnings. The village and emergency services people did a great job.” Those north of Montauk Highway reportedly fared pretty well. Marjorie Roe, who lives on the corner of Rose Avenue and Oak Street in a house built around 1920, lost some awning but that was about it, she said. It wasn’t the worst storm she saw. “I think the ice storm back in the late 70s with the trees bowed down was the worst,” she said. “The power was out for a good six or seven days.” Tom Berger, who lives on Lake Drive in East Patchogue, said electricity was restored late Sunday night. “Lake Drive was out,” he said. “There was one or two trees that leaned through the wires. Everything down here was pretty good. We were able to take showers and have hot water.” 􀁑

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