South Shore towns prepare for Henri’s winds, potential for major flooding

Henri is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane over eastern Long Island early Sunday afternoon, bringing damaging winds, major flooding and widespread power outages.

News 12 Staff

Aug 21, 2021, 2:30 PM

Updated 1,118 days ago

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Henri is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane over eastern Long Island early Sunday afternoon, bringing damaging winds, major flooding and widespread power outages.
News 12's Virginia Huie was at the Fire Island Ferry Terminal in Bay Shore after Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone called for a voluntary evacuation from the barrier island.
Bellone said ferry service will not run on Sunday, so Saturday was the only day residents and visitors could evacuate.
Amanda Lucklow, of Manhattan, says she left Fire Island with her baby and dog in tow.
"We've stayed out there through storms before but we didn't want to risk getting stuck out there with her, the dog and all of that. So better to be safe than sorry," she says.
All along the South Shore, residents and visitors took action ahead of Henri's arrival. A steady stream of campers left county parks grounds and marina workers secured boats at their ramps.
Residents across the Mastic-Shirley area are spending the calm before the storm stocking up on supplies - everything from food and water to supplies at hardware stores to weather the storm.
"I'm getting prepared," said Alice Crabtree. "I live on the water in Mastic Beach. So, we're really trying to batten down the hatches now."
Crabtree told News 12 that Superstorm Sandy brought 5 feet of water to her property and surrounding area. She hopes it won't be as bad this time.
At the Home Depot in Shirley, people lined up for propane tanks to fuel generators just in case the power goes out. Marcelo Ibarra, of Shirley, bought the last four tanks left in the store.
"You got to take it seriously and prepare for the worst," he says.
Many people are also stocking up on ice to help keep food cold in the event of an outage.