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Monday morning, April 16, Gay Verdi, The WaterFront Center executive director, said they saw incredibly high tide, but it passed. Still, there was water lapping over the pier on Sunday, she said.

Caption
This picture was taken looking east from Walls Wharf beach and is dark because it was taken on post-nor'easter Monday, April 16, at 11:30 a.m. showing the high tide line. Photo by Betty Tiska.

Bayville Mayor Victoria Siegel was feeling a lot better on Monday, April 16 after spending the weekend preparing for the nor'easter that was hitting the coast. New Jersey appears to have taken the brunt of the storm.

The Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) acted quickly and was mobilizing preliminary damage assessment teams on Monday in anticipation of widespread flooding and coastal damage from New Jersey to Maine.

Mayor Siegel said, "We dodged the bullet but we were prepared for the worst. The worst would have been a 15-foot tide and that is three feet higher than the 1992 nor'easter we had. The wind velocity expected never came and that was critical. And the direction of the wind stayed south, so we fared well."

The mayor was most impressed by the cooperation they had had among the various levels of government and agencies. "They were absolutely superb," she said.

Happily, the Bayville Strip where work was completed to prevent flooding was dry. "It was absolutely dry and the drainage system we put in was dry. Everything that was supposed to work, worked. The areas we expected flooding, flooded. The president's area flooded as did the low lying areas by the creek. What usually flooded, did, but we were ready and everything was in place, including the shelters that were available for anyone, including for other villages, that needed them. Everything worked," she said.

In Oyster Bay there was some flooding.

A town spokesperson said that at Theodore Roosevelt Park the parking lot by the boat ramps was flooded, as of Monday morning's high tide. There was a foot of water from the booth to the service road down by the water.

There was some water by the flagpole area. The water did not come over the bulkhead at the marina. There were just a few boats there and and no damage was reported as of Monday; but there was another high tide expected Monday afternoon and high tides will run for a couple of days, including that there will be a new moon on Tuesday, which affects the tides.

As for Town of Oyster Bay beaches: Stehli Beach in Bayville was fine. At high tide the Ransom Beach parking lot was under some water but when the tide receded there was no erosion. At Centre Island Soundside Beach, the comfort station was still standing although there was some erosion there previously.

"We actually gained some sand on the Sound side of the beach which is a plus. We may have, however, lost a little of the dune on the Sound side, about a foot or so," said the spokesperson.

Still, the town was on alert to the tides. They can't predict what will happen with subsequent tides because they can't predict which way the winds and tides will whip around. That was what saved Bayville Sunday: The direction of the winds and tides as of last night didn't get as high as expected. A nor'easter is hard to predict.

Luckily, the water receded at TR Park as the tide went out.


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