I am writing with very exciting news!! The US Army Corps of Engineers announced on Monday that they have officially awarded the contract to Great Lakes Dock and Dredge Co. for a PL84-99 re-nourishment of Fire Island's East End beaches! This $52 million contract calls for a total of approximately 2 million cubic yards of sand to be dredged from off-shore borrow areas and placed on the beaches and dunes of our Brookhaven communities from eastern Seaview all the way to Davis Park.

Although this winter was relatively uneventful on the mainland, a fast moving and powerful storm hit Fire Island surprisingly hard in December, with barometer readings so low that the event carried the destructive power of a Category One hurricane.  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 serious sand loss.

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.

As you can see above, we have a difficult time ahead for our island, and it’s only October. Ophelia battered Fire Island’s east end more seriously than elsewhere, but island-wide we have great challenges facing us. This report is lengthy, but conditions warrant bringing you up-to-date and offering a look ahead.

Welcome to this first issue of FIA Update. From time to time, we receive important information from FINS, New York State, Suffolk County, our two Towns, or our three ferry companies. These updates could relate to anything from emergency alerts, storm warnings, or news articles concerning Fire Island that appear in the media.