FEMA Officials Visit East Hampton Town to Assess the Damage

Federal, state, and county officials joined East Hampton Town officials on Wednesday in surveying the damage to private and public properties in Montauk and Amagansett from the late December nor'easter on Wednesday.

Across the county, officials are inspecting the estimated $10 million in damages  caused by the Dec. 26 to 27 storm, according to Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. He is scheduled to detail the efforts to seek federal aid for repairs and beach re-nourishment in a press conference at Robert Moses State Beach on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

East Hampton Town officials have said preliminarily assessed town-wide damages, most of which are in Montauk, in excess of $4 million.

East Hampton Town Chief Environemntal Analyst Brian Frank and Town Engineer Tom Talmage showed officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the State Emergency Management Office, as well as the county, severe erosion on both the north-side and south-side of Montauk. The group was expected to , on Thursday. 

Supervisor Bill Wilkinson and Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione began the tour with emergency management officials at the town-owned parking lot between the sound and . The lot has been comprimised by severe erosion that has chipped away at it and has undermined it, Wilkinson said. 

The group split into two to view the areas that are eligible for public assistance and to view the damage on private property that could be eligible for individual assistance. They toured properties along Culloden Point, including the that officials thought would fall into Block Island Sound at one point, the Racanelli house on Soundview Drive, and the , and those on the ocean side, like and . 

"Preliminary information collected by Suffolk's Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services unit from a number of towns, villages and other agencies have pegged the East End as most severely hit by the nor'easter and blizzard that piled 20 inches or more of snow in many communities and was accompanied by winds that at times reached 60 miles per hour," Levy said in a press release.

Tom Dess, the superintendent of the state parks in Montauk, gave officials tour of erosion damage around the  and at .

On the beach at Hither Hills, Dess said beach and dunes were lost, though the width of the beach had been replenished with sand that had been washed away from further east. "I thank the Royal Atlantic for giving me the sand," he said. Two-by-six planks of wood scattered the beach, as well, and he surmised they had also been washed west from the Montauk resorts.

Still, he told officials, "The width is back. The height is gone. Without height, the next storm will be back in the dunes."

On the tour, Don Caetano, a deputy director of external affairs with FEMA, said the county and state will compile all of the assessments for public assistance and go through the process to declare a state of emergency from the storm.

As for those with private property damage, Ted Fisch, the regional director of NYSEOM said homeowners should go through their insurance carriers for damage recovery assistance. They should also make their local officials aware, if they aren't already, of their damages to find out if they are eligible for FEMA assistance.