Long Beach swamped by Irene's surge

Sunday's storm brought watery havoc to Long Beach, with rampant flooding of the beach and the streets.

"We have no beach, it is completely under water," said Assemb. Harvey Weisenberg (D--Long Beach), who lives in a condominium on the boardwalk. "The tidal surge was huge. At one point, there was 2 to 3 feet of water under the boardwalk."

The National Guard was en route to Long Beach Sunday morning. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said the county received a call Sunday morning from Long Beach Fire Department Chief Robert Smith, who had requested emergency assistance with the flooding.

Long Beach police said, as of 1 p.m., the evacuation has been lifted and bridges over Long Beach Road and the Atlantic Beach Bridge are open.

At 11:30 a.m., homeowners and building superintendents were cleaning sand and ocean foam from sidewalks, automobiles, building facades and other areas. Broadway, the main thoroughfare by the beach, had patches of accumulated sand but no flooding.

The sand in the street was pervasive in areas where the storm surge broke through the wooden backing of the boardwalk. Plastic fences around some pools at condominium buildings were also badly damaged.

However, the high-rise buildings along the boardwalk and storefronts on Park Avenue did not appear to have sustained broken windows.

Some streets such as New York Avenue and National Boulevard, were flooded as they have done in past storms.

Small business owner Michael Shannon said there was "a lot of water in the streets."

Shannon said he had about 5 inches of water in the basement of his home in the Canals neighborhood of Long Beach.

"I'm not happy, but I've seen a lot worse living here for almost 40 years," he said. "Clean up is going to take awhile, but police and firefighters are out on the streets to help people."

Ken Friedman, an accountant who lives on the boardwalk in Long Beach, said shortly after 8 a.m. water was up to the boardwalk and in portions of Broadway but not covering the entire street.

"Some of the berms have been breached," he said. "But there are no boards flying off."

Friedman, an accountant living on the fifth floor of a 10-story building, said West Broadway was deserted. "Nobody is out but the streets are passable. We still have the lights," he said, looking outside his condominium window.

The only impact Friedman has had so far is water seeping in by his windows. He said he was using towels to mop up.