City Manager: Long Beach Under 'Extreme Flooding'

If anyone is thinking of leaving Long Beach Monday night, as the brunt of Hurricane Sandy starts to slam the barrier island, think again, said City Manager Jack Schnirman.

“We have record breaking flooding now in the city,” Schnirman told News 12 while at City Hall at about 6:30 p.m. Monday, where the lights went out.

Schnirman said that there is “tremendous flooding in various parts of the city right now; almost too numerous to mention. And unfortunately it’s going to get worse in the next couple of hours.” The city will experience high tide tonight and record ocean surges are expected.

The city manager emphasized that right now the most important thing is for residents to stay put. “It’s absolutely unsafe to be on the road in any way, shape or form at this time,” Schnirman said. He noted that Park Avenue is “extremely flooded,” with ocean and bay waters converging on that main thoroughfare, and that the West End is “completely under water.”

Schnirman said that police were out clearing any people out from the boardwalk. “It is crucial that people not be on the boardwalk because the ocean will be beginning to start cresting over the boardwalk in the next hour or so.”

The city bused residents to shelters at Levittown High School, Nassau Community College and, for those with pets with them, at Mitchell Field in Uniondale. Schnirman said that, if necessary, the city would open a shelter in Long Beach but he didn’t name the potential location. When asked, he also said that a mandatory curfew was a consideration.

On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited Long Beach and announced that he planned to deploy additional National Guard, many of them to Long Island, where they can use high-axel vehicles to drive into difficult areas in emergency situations. Schnirman said that there are some teams coming to the area. “We’re going to work out the logistics on who is going to be here and what they’re going to do to help us with the flooding,” he said.

Schnirman said that earlier in the day there was a report of 338 power outages in the city. Some of the wreckage the city reports are downed trees and power lines and a home that lost a chimney. “It’s too early for a real damage assessment, other than to say that the worst is just beginning to hit,” he said.