Long Island nor'easter this weekend leaves trail of fallen trees, outages and coastal flooding

The powerful weekend nor'easter that swept across Long Island, flooding roads, toppling trees, eroding beaches and knocking out power for thousands, had lost steam by late Sunday, but not enough to prevent a wet start to the workweek.

Heavy rain and dangerously high gusts Saturday continued overnight and into Sunday. In Suffolk County, winds hit 81 mph early Saturday, In Nassau, Bayville reported gusts of 54 mph at about 7 a.m. on Sunday, the highest in the county, according to the National Weather Service.

A coastal flood advisory remains in effect until 2 p.m. Monday, continuing the risk of nor'easter erosion that had swallowed up chunks of Long Island beach by late Sunday.

"We'll have this area of low pressure, the nor'easter itself, really start to spin down and weaken as it meanders off to the north and east, passing over the island [Monday] afternoon," Dominic Ramunni, a meteorologist with the weather service told Newsday late Sunday.

Monday showers

"So we'll still be dealing with gloomy conditions, overcast skies, showers really continuing intermittently before starting to taper late [Monday] afternoon," Ramunni said.

The weather service recorded 3.09 inches of rain in Central Islip by Sunday evening, Ramunni said, with an inch to 2 inches more expected.

But take heart Long Island, as the week progresses, the weather should only get better, with mostly sunny skies and comfortable highs by Tuesday, and more of the same through Saturday.

"Tuesday looks much brighter," Ramunni said. "Temperatures return into the 70s, or just about close to it, depending on where you are here on the Island, and then potentially even into the middle 70s by midweek. So brighter, warmer days are ahead."

The storm left its mark, especially on the South Shore, causing beach erosion of up to 8 feet at Orient Beach State Park and parts of Fire Island, the meteorologist said.

Cleanup, transit update

Nassau had "gotten through the worst" of the storm, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said earlier Sunday at a news conference in Mineola.

"This was extremely difficult," Blakeman said. "It was a tough storm, especially with the sustained winds, the high tide, and of course, the full moon didn't help. ... We don't expect to lose too much more power in the homes, unless we have down trees."

After some early delays, the Long Island Rail Road was "on, or close to, schedule," he added.

LIRR service remained suspended late Sunday between Long Beach and Valley Stream due to flooding near Island Park, according to the railroad's website. 

Nassau County's NICE Bus provided shuttle service to close the transit gap.

In parts of Suffolk County on Sunday, signs of the nor'easter were hard to miss. Downed tree limbs cluttered up residential streets, making driving a challenge, and neighborhoods were in the dark.

In Huntington, "tree damage" led to a power outage late Sunday afternoon that continued past 8 p.m., leaving 368 customers without power, according to PSEG Long Island. In West Hills, some of the few motorists on the road inched their way through isolated areas with nearly a foot of water.

More flooding possible

Riverhead officials warned of flooding up to 2 feet in waterfront and shoreline areas until 2 p.m. on Monday. They urged drivers not to try to drive through the inundated areas.

Suffolk County officials did not immediately return phone calls Sunday from Newsday seeking updates on possible storm damage.

PSEG Long Island was reporting 774 outages, affecting well over 8,000 customers as of about 8:45 p.m. on Sunday.

The utility said more than 1,000 employees had fanned out across Long Island during the nor'easter.

In Port Washington on Sunday, Shore Road had been flooded "for the better part of 24 hours," North Hempstead Town spokesperson Umberto Mignardi said. In Sea Cliff, a fallen tree on Route 107 had closed all lanes in both directions Sunday.

April and Ford Pace, of Freeport, said water was shooting out of the sink in their home Saturday.

"It was coming through the stairs, through the foundation of the house," said April Pace, 44.

The Paces bought their home in 2021 but have routinely faced flooding, she said. They have lost their car and their deck in previous storms. Their flood insurance has jumped from $950 to $3,000, April Pace said.

On Sunday morning, she watched as a neighbor kayaked from one end of the block to another. Still, even with a small lake out front and a flooded backyard, Pace told Newsday, she wouldn't consider moving.

"This is my home. God gave this to me. If it means I need to do things to fight for the village of Freeport to do more, then they need to do it," she said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul warned New Yorkers to stay out of the water. But some people couldn't stay away.

A man who went swimming at Robert Moses State Park on Saturday was reported missing for almost 20 hours, before he contacted New York State Park Police on Sunday morning to confirm he was safe.

In Long Beach, a quartet of surfers took to the waves and emerged stoked after a less-than-ideal peak season. 

"The summer was awful," Brian Moir, 22, of Holtsville, told Newsday.

The New York Yankees' final game of the regular season, against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, had been moved up to 1:05 p.m. in an attempt to avoid rain. 

But as forecasts predicted more rain, the game was eventually canceled, with no makeup scheduled.