Second Beach Shut Down to Surfers, Cars

Surfers are now cut off from riding Second Beach's big hurricane waves after large crowds posed a threat to public safety, police said.

The Middletown Police Department closed Second Beach's shoreline, as well as all low-lying roads on Sachuest Point to everyone, including surfers around 2pm, confirmed Lt. Robert Nutt, police department spokesperson.

"We were originally going to leave the beach open until 4 pm, but decided to close a little early because there were just too many cars down there, and for surfers the situation was just gettng too dangerous," said Lt. Nutt. "It wasn't just surfers going down there. People were coming to see the waves and hang out. The cars were everywhere, spilling out of the lot and into the street."

Sachuest Point Road has been idenitifed as problem spot for flooding and, Lt. Nutt explained, emergency officials worried that in the event an evacuation was needed, the crowds and cars would pose a threat to public safety.

"There were too many people and we were going to lose control of the situation," he said. "It was also getting dangerous for the surfers too. High tide was coming in and the water was getting up to the wall."

He continued, "With that many people down there, it became hard to know who was entering the water and coming out. It was harder to keep track of the surfers out there with so many people on the beach."

Second Beach will not likely re-open to surfers early Saturday morning, said Nutt.

Surfers will be arrested for violating the order, police said.