Dan's Papers - August 17, 2007 - And Now The Big Tidal Wave

The rains that fell over last weekend were the heaviest ever recorded in the history of the East End. There have been, in the past, rainfalls of six or seven inches, even eight inches during a severe hurricane, but nothing like this. By the end of Monday, over eleven inches had poured down flooding roads, raising tides and even stopping the Long Island Railroad. No one has ever seen anything like it.

Many new lakes were created where they shouldn't have been, causing the closing of many roads. The new Lake Willows flooded Willows Road in Hampton Bays, there was a Lake Deerfield, Lake Ocean Road, Lake Hayground, Lake Butter Lane and Lake Cooks Lane in Bridgehampton and Water Mill and there was a New Lake 114 in East Hampton that made driving totally impossible. Dune Road in Westhampton Beach was washed out in several places and at least one resident, Arlene Wander, required assistance in evacuating her home. It was impossible to drive from Quogue to Hampton Bays on Dune Road for quite some time.

The only permanent damage from the rain will be to our crops. The strawberry crop could be as much as 90% ruined and there is likely to be serious losses among plant crops such as melons, tomatoes, cucumbers and the like. Potatoes are likely to have suffered little damage.

In any case, what with abandoned cars all over the place, flooded basements, leaky houses and everything else, it was quite a mess. And one that is not likely to come again soon.