By Marley Seaman
At Kennedy Airport, almost a foot of rain was measured between Monday, Oct. 10, and last Saturday morning, including a record-smashing four-plus inches last Friday alone. The deluge made this October the wettest since records were first kept in 1949, and caused home flooding and electrical problems around Baldwin.
"We were up to about 54 fire calls for just Friday alone, mostly down in Baldwin Harbor," said Doug Wiedmann, first deputy of the Baldwin Fire Department. "We've never had that many calls in one day."
Even 50-plus calls did not fully reflect the department's activity. Wiedmann said that whenever firefighters visited a home, several neighbors would also ask for help. Most of the calls were due to floodwater seeping into basements, but a few were more dangerous.
Baldwin Senior High School students were forced to spend about 15 minutes in the downpour on Friday morning after a small electrical fire broke out in the cafeteria office. The fire began at approximately 10:34 a.m., and was extinguished by an electrician at the school. The fire department then gave the all-clear, and classes resumed. A surge protector at the school was also shorted out by the water.
The fire caused "minimal smoke damage ... confined to the cafeteria office," according to the district's director of facilities, Michael Sheehan.
Traffic was also slowed down Friday afternoon when a transformer blew on Grand Avenue, near School Street. Traffic lights on Grand Avenue and Sunrise Highway were knocked out as well.
Despite the heavy rain, there was not much flooding on Baldwin's major roads. "We didn't have any major flooding on Grand Avenue," said Wiedmann. "Down in the harbor, between Milburn and Eastern ... they were flooded out, and Northern Boulevard."
According to Adrienne Leptich, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, a combination of a high-pressure front over Nova Scotia and a subtropical low off the coast of North Carolina were the primary causes of last week's storms, which affected much of the Northeast.
"We had a front come through ... last Friday, Saturday, and we got that first douse of rain," Leptich said. "What happened is that the front stalled out just south and east of Long Island." It remained there for a week, and a small low-pressure spot developed on Friday, causing that day's downpours. A total of 11.18 inches had fallen at JFK by the time the storms cleared.
Wiedmann urged residents to be careful before reactivating appliances such as heating units that may have been damaged by flooding. "They should have that checked by a licensed repairman before turning that back on, as well as any electrical outlets that were involved in water," he said.
Comments on this story? MSeaman @liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
