East End preps for another storm while still recovering from previous one

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine issued a State of Emergency for the county ahead of Friday evening’s storm.

Jon Dowding

Jan 13, 2024, 3:29 AM

Updated 277 days ago

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East End communities on the South Shore are preparing for the next round of coastal flooding just days after another storm eroded beaches and flooded neighborhoods.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine issued a State of Emergency for the county ahead of Friday evening’s storm.
Westhampton resident Rebecca Greening saw a shocking scene on security camera video Wednesday morning.
"This swarm of like a tsunami water came from the bay into the driveway and then flooded the entire neighborhood,” she said. "I don't think anyone could have predicted what level of water we were going to have."
Almost 4 feet of water filled her basement in her home along the bay.
The threats from another storm have many East End communities preparing for another round of flooding and beach erosion.
Town of East Hampton Deputy Supervisor Cate Rogers says the town has been preparing all day.
"It's preparation by placing sand but we're also very focused through our marine patrol PD and all of our town departments on that quick recovery,” she said.
At Ponquogue Beach, Suffolk County crews are doing what they can in the time they have between storms.
Southampton Town Emergency Manager Ryan Murphy says preparing the beaches between storms has been difficult.
"It's just taking the sand away just as fast if not faster than we can try and put it onto the beaches to try to build these areas up,” he said.
Tuesday night’s storm took a major toll on the beaches west of the Shinnecock Inlet.
"Some of these areas were about a 40-foot-wide plateau,” said Murphy. “By the morning of the storm, some of that was down to four feet."
Greening hopes to wake up to a different sight Saturday morning.
"We're ready for tonight with sandbags," she said.
Suffolk County is reminding residents and business owners to self report damage from this storm and the last storm using their online tool.
They tell us doing so will help come time to rebuild or request assistance.
You can access that link here.