Rockville Centre emergency services rescue drivers trapped amid sudden flooding

Faced with one of the heaviest September rainstorms in history, officials in the offices of Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued statements last Friday warning residents to stay indoors.

The extreme weather resulted in flooding in a number of Long Island communities including Rockville Centre, which was pounded by an estimated nine inches of rain in a span of just six hours.

Parts of Long Beach Road, Hempstead Avenue, Lakeview Avenue and Peninsula Boulevard, were reportedly knee-deep in floodwater by early afternoon, when an advisory was sent out to residents warning them of the dangerous driving conditions. Those conditions worsened at around 3 p.m., when first responders sprang into action to help some of those who were caught in high water.

Tony Rugolo, first assistant chief of the Rockville Centre Fire Department, said that over the course of the day, the department responded to 21 calls for assistance, 14 of them from residents who were trapped in their vehicles.

“We removed numerous people from these autos and moved them to safety,” Rugolo said.

Thanks to the combined efforts of the village Department of Public Works and the fire and police departments, the rescues were successful. “The response from our emergency personnel was second to none,” Mayor Francis Murray said. “The departments collaborated unbelievably together, saving lives and also saving more vehicles from going into the stormwater.”

Police Commissioner Randy Dodd said that officers responded to 18 calls reporting vehicles taking on water.

“I want to thank the DPW for their help blocking serious roadways with hazardous conditions and also the Fire Department for their swift service,” Dodd said at the village board meeting on Monday night. “Together I think we handled it pretty well.”

Village Trustee Emilio Grillo echoed Murray’s and Dodd’s sentiments, offering his sincere thanks to the DPW, the Fire Department and the police force for their efforts.

“The deluge of rain that we underwent as a village could have been a lot worse,” Grillo said. “Our hat’s off to all of our first responders for their dedication and hard work to the public, and for really improving what could have been a disaster in the village in a very short period of time.”

The flooding caused damage in several locations, including the basement of the John A. Anderson Recreation Center, where a cleanup was under way this week.

The Backyard Players and Friends, a nonprofit focused on inclusivity and the special-needs community, were originally scheduled to host their second annual Oktoberfest fundraiser on Friday, when they received notification to shelter in place.

“We canceled our event and got to work with notifications and break down,” Ellen White, a co-director of the organization, wrote in an email. “It wasn’t until we went to post the cancellation on social media that we realized our storefronts were flooded out.”

White said that after the storm, when she arrived at the Backyard Players storefront on Long Beach Road — one of the roadways severely impacted by flooding — she was surprised to find several neighbors and friends pitching in to help with the cleanup.

“It was overwhelming, to say the least,” she said. “It was a rough day, but it made it so much better seeing the community helping the stores on Long Beach Road.”

When she discovered that the high water had damaged the organization’s new refrigerator, White said she got a call from the Rockville Centre Lacrosse Club offering to buy them a new one. “This community is unbelievable,” she said.

Looking ahead to preparations for future storms, Murray said that the village has made a great many infrastructural improvements over the past several years, but, he added, storm drains can funnel only so much water before they overflow.

“We have great infrastructure in place here in the village,” Murray said. “But nowhere on Long Island, or in New York state, for that matter, can take nine inches of rainwater. We hope it doesn’t happen again.”

As soon as the rain stopped on Friday night, the mayor said, the high water drained away, and shops and roadways were back to normal.