Cleaning up after Irene

“The storm was so vicious — it’s just incredible,” Long Beach Chief of Lifeguards Paul Gillespie said of Hurricane Irene’s impact on beaches across the barrier island on Monday morning. “You just can’t stop the force of water.”

Massive flooding, power outages and downed trees were reported throughout Long Beach on Sunday during the storm, and Irene created a storm surge so strong that it broke through a 15-foot-high sand berm at National Boulevard, lifted Beach Patrol Headquarters off its wood foundation and slammed it into the boardwalk.

With news crews camped out at the Allegria Hotel, images of the building sliding northward boardwalk were broadcast internationally, vividly illustrating Irene’s impact. Throughout the day, residents turned out to survey the damage, taking photos and videos that became ubiquitous on Facebook.

Early Monday morning, more than 70 lifeguard personnel, in addition to beach maintenance crews, began cleaning up the beaches, disposing of debris and repositioning 24 lifeguard chairs — weighing 400 pounds each — that were knocked down by the storm’s powerful winds and waves.

Gillespie said that no injuries were reported on the beach Sunday. The storm surged swept under the boardwalk and into the streets, he added.

“The ocean met the bay. We lost two feet of sand [across] the whole beach,” Gillespie said. “The power of the storm knocked down 24 sand mounds — it carried the lifeguard chairs to the back of the beach.”

Many of the lifeguard chairs lost their foot and back rests, he said, but they were repaired on Tuesday. Gillespie praised City Manager Charles Theofan and city officials for being prepared for the storm, and noted the diligent efforts of lifeguard personnel.

“We opened the beach at 9 a.m.,” he said on Monday. “Personnel came in and worked hard this morning. We’ve kept people out of the water.”

On Monday, lifeguards were either helping with beach cleanup or keeping an eye on local surfers from under umbrellas.

As West End resident and lifeguard Billy Papetti sat at Magnolia Boulevard beach, he described knee-deep flooding on Wisconsin Street on Sunday. “I was excited,” he said of the storm, “but I was hoping nothing bad would happen.”

At Laurelton Boulevard beach, lifeguard Kelly Lester, who lives in the Canals, said she had helped move the lifeguard stands back into position. “I was worried about what would happen to the beach,” she said. “It’s sad — it’s a little more barren now.”

Lester said that her home was impacted by the storm. “We got 18 inches of flooding,” she said, adding that the washing machine and freezer stopped working.

Tommy Daly, a beach supervisor with more than 50 years’ experience who was on the boardwalk on Monday by 6:30 a.m., said that Long Beach was lucky, because the storm could have been much worse.

“The longer it stays, the more damage it does,” Daly said. “It flew through fairly quickly,” he said, adding that there were winds of 70 mph. “The water force was so great — a tremendous amount of sand got pushed up from the beach to the boardwalk.”

Gillespie’s hope for lifeguard headquarters — which was built in 1982 — was that it could be lifted and put back in place. “It floated off of the foundation, but it’s all intact,” he said. “It just moved.”

On Tuesday afternoon, City Manager Charles Theofan reported that city workers had attempted to move the building, without success. “They may … try it again tomorrow,” Theofan said. “In the meantime, I’m getting quotes from professional building movers. One way or another, we’re going to try to get it back on its foundation.”

Asked if sand would be added to the beaches because of erosion, Theofan said no. “… [B]eaches will normally replenish themselves,” he said. Besides, he explained, the city is prevented from doing that kind of work by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regulations.

“We could ask [the DEC], but you’re talking considerable expense and difficulty to do something which is not necessary,” he said. “We know from history that we have beaches which have taken a beating, and they do come back.”

Comments about this story? Cengelhardt@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.