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Overcast Mangano: Wave surge 'scarred' buildings in Long Beach
Weisenberg says ocean met the bay and created significant flooding in the city
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano assessed the damage in Long Beach with City Manager Charles Theofan and other officials on Sunday, and said that though the worst of the storm has passed, he continued to advise residents who evacuated to “use caution.”
“There is still an abundance of caution that needs to be exercised here,” Mangano said at a press conference this afternoon. “Obviously, people are leaving the shelters and leaving their homes, but were urging them to use caution.”
The announcement came just as roads and bridges into Long Beach were reopened.
“Our call is not to return immediately,” Mangano said. “Give us more time to do a proper assessment.”
Sunday’s storm flooded streets, decimated the beaches and knocked out power to a number of homes. Mangano said that the damage in Long Beach was extensive, and that it was too early to determine the economic impact in Long Beach and other communities for at least a month.
“We toured a good part of Nassau County today. The economic impact takes several weeks to gauge after the storm,” he said. “It is a monumental task and it takes about a month to assess … right now we’re on cleanup.”
As the Long Beach Fire Department responded to a number of emergency calls on Sunday, including a response to at least two calls in the West End, Mangano said that fortunately, there have been no reports of storm related deaths or serious injuries in the county at this time.
“Unfortunately, we have much to assess and clean-up; including significant flooding of up to 4 feet occurred in storm surge zones throughout Nassau County,” Mangano said in a statement. “This presents a call for caution. Many traffic signals are out of order, there are down power lines, flooded roadways and many downed trees. LIPA reports that over 120,000 residents in Nassau County experienced power outages. Residents should assume that downed power lines are live, assume large standing trees are a hazard as the ground is saturated.”
Mangano lauded Theofan and other administrators for their response to the storm, but said the damage was significant.
