Canals resident Kevin Reilly was doing some work in his yard when he greeted two neighbors as they rode their bicycles along Barnes Street on Sunday afternoon – a clear day when the boardwalk was packed with people and the sight of surfers darting into the ocean with their boards was ubiquitous.
“Getting ready for tonight,” one of the neighbors told Reilly.
The Canals, which floods often during heavy rain and high tide, was one of the hardest hit neighborhoods during Hurricane Sandy. As Tropical Storm Hermine made its way north, Reilly and others said it was a stark reminder of Long Beach’s vulnerability to coastal storms.
“We did rebuild, and this is the first potential threat of any kind of flooding, so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Reilly said. “There was a little anxiety with some of the people that I talked to.”
As of Sunday afternoon, forecasters said that while Hermine’s track had turned further east in the Atlantic and was not expected to make landfall in the South Shore area, a tropical storm warning was still in effect. Forecasters called for winds in the 39- to 57-mph range, with a two- to four-foot storm surge in Long Beach through Wednesday morning.
The city said that it was continuing to monitor the storm, and that crews were checking storm drains and had built temporary sand berms along the beach. Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday announced that swimming would be prohibited on all Long Island beaches beginning Sunday due to rough surf and life-threatening rip currents.
“We are continuing to monitor Tropical Storm Hermine as it moves up the East Coast,” the city said in a statement on Saturday. “And while we hope for the best, now is the time to prepare for whatever comes our way. We are coordinating with all levels of government, utilities, among other agencies, as we prepare for potential flooding in low-lying areas …”
Hermine was expected to deliver coastal flooding during high tide beginning Sunday night, something Reilly and many other residents are too familiar with.
“We take water at the end of the street and that’s always a concern. It will be saltwater mixed with sewage, the way it always is,” he said. “Heron [Street] always floods. The Canals have always been vulnerable, it’s just the way they were built, and we still need a long-term solution to fix it.”
Many residents in the Canals and West End are still in the process of elevating their homes; Reilly and his wife, Kristie, returned home a year and a half ago after a long and tedious elevation process – and waiting for funding from the New York Rising program – after their home sustained flood damage.
“They’re looking to elevate and trying to get the money squared away, and the contractors now are very busy,” Reilly said, adding that a number of residents in the Canals are still recovering from both Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
Reilly said that he was preparing for Hermine over the weekend: making sure his car had a full tank of gas; that his flashlights had good batteries; and bringing in and tying down outdoor furniture and other items that could fly away.
“It’s quiet now, and they say later on we’ll get more wind this evening,” he said. “It’s such an erratic storm. The last report that I heard was there is still coastal flooding, but not as bad.”
Reilly, the Herald’s 2014 Person of the Year and a co-founder of Long Beach Rising, a Facebook page that provides residents and storm victims with information and resources, said that there were lessons learned after Irene and Sandy, and he emphasized the importance of being prepared.
“You have to give people the right information and you also have to make sure you don’t cry wolf,” Reilly said. “Everybody panicked during Irene, and then nothing really happened. People who always flood flooded, the people who don’t flood didn’t flood. And then Sandy comes around … and everyone said, No big deal. We left - I said this storm is going to be bad news - and that apathy can cost lives.”
