Village Business District Braces for Irene’s Impact

While 100-mile-per-hour winds, potential flooding from streets and downed power lines pose more than enough potential headaches for retail storeowners, the thought of losing an entire weekend sales may be a longer lasting hurt.

In an already rough economy, with a looming double dip recession, Babylon Village shops bank on weekend sales, especially those near big revenue seasons such as back to school, to help keep inventory moving and bills paid.

But Irene’s arrival this weekend is already hurting downtown business though some restaurants and bars expect to be busy as bad weather, for some reason, propels people to gather at bars and enjoy a few cold ones while awaiting a storm front.

“This is going to hurt, with the economy the way it is, there is no doubt we’ll feel the financial impact of this hurricane,” said Jon Taylor, president of the Babylon Village Chamber and proprietor of Village Art and Frame Gallery on Deer Park Avenue.

“Even today [Friday afternoon] people are already preoccupied with getting supplies and securing homes and they’ll be doing that Saturday as well.”

Generally the weekend before Labor Day is a robust sales time and village merchants count on the last weeks of summer given the higher than normal foot traffic in warm weather.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Taylor, noting that so many village shops are right along Montauk Highway. Babylon Town issued a mandatory evacuation of residents living south of Main Street late Friday evening.

But water coming from bay swells and high winds isn’t the big issue all the time for Main Street shops and Deer Park Avenue buildings. With a high tide and certain lunar cycles, it’s the water from underneath the streets that have caused the most damage during past storms.

Extensive rain, says Taylor, could flood store basements and storage areas. He recalls how one local village building found 10 to 12 inches of water during a bad storm and was shut down for weeks as the water seepage damaged the restaurant’s kitchen as it was in the lower level. The electrical and heating systems were ruined, he recalls.

“There was a spell in 2005 when it rained for eight days and water started coming in from the foundations of the buildings during the last two. We’re just trying to be optimistic that we don’t face that scenario this time around,” he said.

Storeowners will be open Saturday and many are expected to be on site as the storm nears to protect goods and respond to potential damage scenarios.

“We just don’t need this [Hurricane Irene] after having to weather the economy,” said Taylor.