A Powerful Storm Hits Fire Island
Last week an unnamed storm event came out of the Gulf and raced up the east coast, leaving trees blown down, power outages affecting thousands, and causing major coastal and inland flooding on its way north. By the time it arrived on Fire Island, the storm’s barometer readings were so low that it carried the destructive power of a Category One hurricane. The buoys that measure wave height 50 miles offshore registered 27 feet before the buoys failed. When the swells hit our beaches, they were still 14 – 16 feet high and powerfully destructive. This FIA UPDATE will offer you information about the extent of the storm damage, how the aftermath is being assessed and addressed, and the leadership role of the FIA in recovery efforts.
The storm moved quickly, but even so it delivered a surprisingly powerful 1-2 punch to the island. On the ocean side, beaches and dunes were decimated up and down the island, although the far west end (Kismet to Fair Harbor) was spared more serious sand loss. As the ocean waves began to abate, however, the tides in the bay surged to near historic levels. Water quickly rose over bulkheads, sending several inches of bay water flooding through low lying areas of many communities.
There were also several minor wash-overs, with 3 more serious ones at the Pines, Robbins Rest and Corneille Estates. On the east end of the Pines, a river of ocean water came up through the vehicle cut and ran downhill toward the PSEG substation on the bay side. The two wash-overs on the west end of the island left 3 feet of water from ocean to bay in two places, delaying the school buses taking the mainland kids home at 3pm.
Speaking of wash-overs, several people posted on social media about the ocean overtopping the dunes, mistakenly using the term “breach.” While both terms describe ocean water flowing across the island, a wash-over is temporary and recedes as the storm passes. A breach cuts through the island and does not recede after the storm, usually deepening and widening if not repaired. Where the ocean washed to the bay last week, the waters receded on the next low tides, thus qualifying them as temporary wash-overs. (Note: On Fire Island, a breach in the developed areas would be immediately repaired, but it would be left open if it occurred in a major FINS tract. An example is the breach that occurred in the Wilderness area during Sandy, which was allowed to remain open.)
Assessing and Addressing the Damage
During and right after the storm, our emergency responders, local contractors, and year-round residents did a great job of getting out and around the communities to check homes and businesses, help anyone in distress, and take pictures and videos of the havoc wreaked up and down the island. In the following days, teams from the County and Towns were able to get on the island to assess the damage to infrastructure, especially on the ocean side. The day before the storm hit, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Corporation had begun mobilizing for a long-delayed US Army Corps (USACE) project to repair damage on the west end (Kismet to Seaview) from winter storms back in 2020. The GL project team was also surprised by the ferocity of the storm, and had to go back out during the storm to secure project equipment on the Beach that was getting pounded by the rough surf. The west end repair project will continue this week with the dredge itself expected to arrive to start pumping sand on shore on December 29th.On the east end (Ocean Bay Park to Davis Park), the storm washed away huge amounts of sand from many areas of beach and berm that were already dramatically eroded. Adding to the sense of urgency about the condition of east end beaches, a NYS DEC and Suffolk County request to USACE for repair of east end damage from several recent storms was rejected by the Corps in the fall. That decision was appealed by the DEC, prompting the Corps to send the denied application to two other USACE districts with coastal experience (Philadelphia and Jacksonville, FL) for an independent review of the negative determination. The County is currently gathering post-storm beach measurements to submit with another repair application to USACE based on the strength of this storm and the severity of damage sustained.
Historic Role of the FIA The FIA has been actively, relentlessly, and passionately advocating with government agencies and elected officials for Fire Island shoreline management, sand renourishment, and storm repair for the last 30 + years. Our successes include forming multiple community Erosion Control Districts in the early 90’s, using the ECDs to carry-out several FEMA repair projects in the years before Sandy, securing the FIMI rebuild of our beaches after Sandy, winning the 60 year battle to get the FIMP shoreline management project authorized 2 years ago, and successfully pushing for the current repair project for the west end. You can be sure that we are once again deeply involved in the current State, County, and East End community efforts to secure an expedited emergency repair project for our island’s East End.I hope this FIA UPDATE gives you a clearer picture of the scope of last week’s storm damage, and helps you understand the complex multi-agency process that keeps our fragile barrier island in a healthy state as we face the ever-increasing threats of climate change, sea level rise, and the increasing severity of powerful storms that come our way.Please support our efforts by joining FIA (see below). After working with and for Fire Islanders since 1955, we have all learned an important lesson—we’re most definitely better together!
With warm regards for a very Happy New Year!
Suzy Goldhirsch
President, Fire Island Association
