Sandy 10 Years Later: Freeport Mayor Makes Preparations Toward Future

FREEPORT, NY — It's a moment in time that Long Islanders are not soon going to forget. Despite the plans and the forecasts, Sandy made a direct hit on much of the South Shore.

By the time Sandy barreled into the region on Oct. 29. 2012, the brunt was officially from a "Superstorm," not a hurricane.

That mattered little to the residents of Long Beach to Lindenhurst.

Looking back 10 years after the impact, it's even more important to see where we are today. What improvements have been made, and are we ready for the next Sandy?

Freeport had some of the worst damage from flooding and Sandy's whipping winds. Mayor Robert Kennedy is doing every he can to avoid another storm of that magnitude.

He has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Sen. Chuck Schumer's office to get surge barrier gates installed.

He took a group of elected officials on a field trip to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where they successfully installed the gates several years ago.

While a study was conducted by Nassau County to analyze the feasibility, "unfortunately, the Army Corps has just not thoroughly researched the suggested use of these surge barrier gates," Kennedy told Patch.

He was given "red tape" that the waterfront locations are protected federally from developing. However, Kennedy's lawyer said that isn't the case as long it's for "health, safety and life," the mayor relayed.

He said after that $3million study, the federal government is working toward another $3 million study.

But, as important as surge barriers would be for Freeport and the county as a whole, Kennedy isn't pressing pause on moving forward.

Since Freeport has its own power plant, and electricity was one of the casualties of Sandy, Kennedy's department fires up 50 megawatts to the Northeast U.S. grid.

"Because we provide this power, our residents and business can buy power back from the grid at about a 45-percent reduction in cost," Kennedy said.

Among the resiliency measures: removing substations in flood zone areas. Freeport has also boosted the power supply on the top of telephone poles in flood-prone locations.

"If it does flood, it doesn't shut down transformers and prevent all the residents from getting electric," he said.

The Village of Freeport built an eight-foot-high bulkhead around one of the power plants.

Kennedy has invested another $7 million to replace the main feeder cables from the power plant across Freeport Creek.

He also put codes in place, including where oil tankers must be fully secured to a base in the event of another Sandy event. Ten years ago, oil tanks drifted away and "there was number two oil all over the entire village."

The other main change since Sandy directly impacted the most homeowners--raising property. Homes with more than 51 percent of damage were required to get lifted or torn down.

He said initially after Sandy, many families chose to leave rather than make the investment to rebuild, fearing another storm would knock their homes back down.

"Now that the insurance rates, keep in mind, they're still going up. But the homes that were raised have a very small rate of insurance," Kennedy said. "It's an out of sight, out of mind. It's been 10 years since Superstorm Sandy. I think a lot of people have kind of forgotten about it."

That feeling for many comes despite an increase in storm intensity along the East Coast, and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters that Sandy was part of the "new normal."

Call it a once-in-an-100-year flood event, but Kennedy says the village is prepared for the next Sandy.

"As a matter of fact, we're more prepared for the nuisance floodings," Kennedy said. "I've personally designed and developed a series of pumping stations that are now implemented throughout the village.