Strong lunar tides keep Hamilton Beach underwater

After intense flood waters saturated the land surrounding Hamilton Beach earlier in the month, Hurricane Irene – with the help of a strong lunar tide – flooded the streets, homes and business in the area with the potential for a boatload of insurance claims. Videos posted on the Hamilton Beach, NY Facebook page show feet of water rushing through parking lots and properties alike.
The expected surge also hit State Senator Joe Addabbo’s office who had five inches of water to deal with. According to Addabbo, rezoning Hamilton Beach from a Zone B evacuation area to a Zone A area might be in the best interest for residents in terms of safety, but insurance claims for damaged private property would not pay out as greatly.
“This is traditional for Hamilton,” said Addabbo, who said FEMA will begin investigating the area as soon as possible. “I’ve seen it bad, but this is the worst I have seen. I can’t wait for the monies for the bulkheads to be done by next year.”
Addabbo explained that bulkheads placed in the basins surrounding the beach community would help alleviate flood waters but with the rain water from Irene and the strong lunar pull, flooding was inevitable.
“We feel like we got off the hook a little bit, but these people have been through a lot,” said Addabbo.
As of Monday, August 29, there are still homes that do not have utility service in Hamilton Beach.
Residents that lived in Zone A mandatory evacuation areas such as Breezy Point, Broad Channel and portions of Far Rockaway filed into John Adams High School in Ozone Park. A reported 561 evacuees rode out the storm amidst representatives from the National Guard, NYPD, representatives from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, school safety agents, Office of Emergency Management officials and many volunteers. As of noon on Monday, the MTA and private busses were transporting people to their individual homes.
Howard Beach Councilmember Eric Ulrich spent his Monday handing out bags of dry ice to constituents without power at Sitka Street between Gold and Desarc Roads.
Joann Ariola, a Lindenwood resident for nearly 50 years, surveyed the area’s damage the morning after Irene.
“In New Howard, the bay came up across Cross Bay Boulevard and down to 92nd Street – the furthest it had ever come,” she said. “It was very bad, the worst I’ve ever seen it. People had flooding in their basements; Cross Bay Boulevard just got power back [on Tuesday, August 30]. I had tried to go to Starbucks, but they were closed because they had no electricity.”
Lindenwood and Ozone Park were inundated with downed trees and power lines while at least two homes in Broad Channel were totally destroyed by fallen trees.
“There was a lot of property damage because trees fell on cars,” said Ariola, who was grateful that “the plans for evacuation went off without a hitch” and “the communication [with residents] was perfect.”
The New York State Insurance Department’s Consumer Services Bureau can help answer questions regarding insurance claims by calling 800-342-3736 or the Department’s disaster hotline at 800-339-1759.