Storm Sparks Plan To Create New North Fork Flooding Map: Supervisor

NORTH FORK, NY — Tuesday's storm brought flooding, downed trees, road closures, and other issues to the North Fork — but town officials worked together to handle Mother Nature's pummeling with aplomb, new Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski said.

According to Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley, there were several roads closed Tuesday night for short periods of time while police worked with the highway department to clear downed trees.

"We did have a utility pole on the causeway in East Marion list in the wind and flooding, creating a situation where the wires crossing Rt. 25 blocked one lane of traffic," he said.

An officer was stationed at that spot Wednesday for traffic control, but one lane remained open, Flatley said.

"Later this morning during the high tide cycle, we had most of our flooding," Flatley said. "The water in the Peconic Bay was within inches of the roadway on the causeway in East Marion and Orient, a lot of New Suffolk was flooded in the area of the post office — and a lot of low-lying areas were also flooded throughout town," he said.

Southold Supervisor Al Krupski weathered his first storm in his new post and said the impacts to the town were, thankfully, not severe. "There was not a tremendous amount of storm damage," he said.

Highway officials are currently assessing remaining cleanup efforts, he said.

Krupski said was also involved in his first emergency management meeting Tuesday as supervisor. "Everything worked out great, and I was impressed by how hard the town staff, the volunteers, and the community work together — it was very nice to see," he said.

Looking ahead, Krupski said he and town officials are working on a flooding map, to pinpoint trouble spots, with a focus on addressing areas to ensure residents have access to different routes and can travel alternative routes during flooding, rather than driving through saltwater.

There are certain known spots where flooding routinely occurs that are being looked at, he said.