longislanhurricanes

As Tropical Storm Bertha moved northeast, passing east of Atlantic City, NJ around 11 am and over Long Island during the afternoon, it produced torrential rain and strong gusty winds.. Torrential rain caused flooding of low lying and poor drainage areas, streams, and rivers across the area. The heaviest rain fell in a band to the northwest of Bertha's track over the Lower Hudson Valley. Serious widespread flooding was reported along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Kings County and along the Long Island Expressway in Nassau County. The Mahwah River at Suffern, NY in Rockland County rose above its' 4 foot flood stage from 11:30 am EST on July 13th through 10:15 am on July 14th. The crest stage was 5.75 feet at 1:15 pm on July 13th. The Saw Mill River in Westchester County also flooded. Here are selected rainfall amounts: For Orange County: from 3.26 inches at Ridgebury to 4.50 inches at Greenwood Lake. For Rockland County: from 3.25 inches at West Nyack to 4.65 inches at Pomona. For Westchester County: 3.09 inches was measured at Ossining. For New York City: from 1.40 inches at LaGuardia Airport to 1.76 inches at Central Park. For Nassau County: 1.80 inches was measured at Lynbrook and 1.82 inches at Levittown. For Suffolk County: from 0.76 inches at East Quogue to 1.90 inches at West Islip. No reports were available from Putnam County. The highest wind speeds were along the immediate coast. Wind gusts measured from the local area airports ranged from 30 MPH at Farmingdale Airport to 44 MPH at LaGuardia Airport. The highest wind gusts reported by spotters were in Western Suffolk County, from 49 MPH at West Islip to 74 MPH at Babylon Village. This narrow band of peak wind gusts was validated by the radar wind velocity data.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Josephine moved rapidly northeast, off the Atlantic Coast during Tuesday, October 8th. It passed east of Long Island just after midnight on October 9th. It produced 1 to 3 inches of rain that caused localized flooding of streets and poor drainage areas across the region. This low also caused strong gusty winds. Here are selected rainfall amounts for: New York City: from 1.61 inches at LaGuardia Airport to 2.18 inches at Kennedy Airport. At Central Park, 1.90 inches was measured. Nassau County: from 1.37 inches at Levittown to 2.60 inches at Lynbrook. Suffolk County: from 2.32 inches at the National Weather Service Office in Upton to 2.83 inches at Bridgehampton. Westchester County: 1.94 inches at Westchester County Airport. Rockland County: from 1.38 inches at West Nyack to 1.52 inches at Suffern. Orange County: from 0.98 inches at Walden to 1.80 inches at Sterling Forest. Most wind gusts measured at the airports were from 40 to 50 mph. However, a 58 mph wind gust was measured at Suffolk County Airport in Westhampton Beach.

Click Torrential record rainfall, which caused serious widespread urban, small stream, and river flooding, preceded the remnants of Hurricane Floyd, which passed over Western Suffolk County of Long Island from 7 pm to 9 pm on September 16th. Death: In Rockland County, a 53-year old man died around midnight on the 17th when he was swept into the Pearl River while walking in Orangetown. Property Damage: Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester Counties were declared disaster areas. For these 4 counties, the initial cost estimates were $14.6 million dollars. These figures represents "eligible" costs for disaster payments, and were provided by the New York State Emergency Management Office. They represent a "fraction" of the costs that were actually incurred. Urban Flooding: Serious widespread flooding of low-lying and poor drainage areas resulted in the closure of many roads and basement flooding across the entire region. Stream and River Flooding: In Rockland County, the Mahwah River at Suffern was above its' flood stage of 4 ft. from 1:30 pm on the 16th until 3 am on the 18th. The crest stage was about 9.7 feet. In Westchester and Bronx Counties, the Saw Mill and Bronx Rivers overflowed their banks and caused serious widespread urban flooding. Rainfall Amounts: The axis of heaviest rain was oriented from southwest to northeast and extended from Central NJ northeast across the Lower Hudson Valley of Southeast NY and Southwest CT. Maximum rainfall rates from 1 to around 2 inches per hour lasted for at least 3 consecutive hours across parts of the Lower Hudson Valley from 2 pm until 6 pm on the 16th. Here are selected rainfall amounts for: Putnam County: from 11.73 inches at the George Fischer M.S. Weather Station in Carmel to 13.70 inches at Brewster. Rockland County: from 7.85 inches at Pomona to 10.17 inches at Congers. Westchester County: from 5.03 inches at Tuckahoe to 12.55 inches at Granite Springs. At Westchester County Airport, 6.26 inches was measured. Orange County: from 4.46 inches at Middletown to 8.25 inches at West Point. Bronx County: 7.51 inches was measured by the Fordham Prep School Weather Station. New York (Manhattan) County: from 4.06 inches at the Saint Rose of Lima Weather Station to 5.02 inches at Central Park. Richmond (Staten Island:) County: No reports were available. Kings (Brooklyn) County: from 3.83 inches at Graves End to 5.53 inches at the Bishop Kearney H.S. Weather Station. Queens County: from 3.27 inches at JFK Airport to 4.94 inches at LaGuardia Airport. Nassau County: from 3.67 inches at Wantagh to 4.12 inches at Mineola. Suffolk County: from 2.67 inches at Bridgehampton to 4.88 inches at Sea Cliff. Winds: Strong and gusty winds combined with torrential rain downed many trees, tree limbs, and power lines across the area. Significant power outages resulted. Most wind gusts were from 50 to 60 mph from around 1:30 pm on the 16th to around 2 am on the 17th.

Storm Name/Type	Dates	# of Customers	Duration (hrs)	Restoration (days)
Hurricane Belle (Cat-1)	08/09/76	533,000	112	4.7
Hurricane David (Tropical)	09/06/76	216,000	61	2.5
Hurricane Gloria (Cat 2-1)	09/27/85	750,000	279	11.6
Hurricane Hugo (Tropical)	09/22/89	107,000	40	1.7
Hurricane Bob (Cat 2)	08/19/91	477,765	112	4.7
Hurricane Floyd (Tropical)	09/16/99	149,000	35	1.5

Storm Type	Winds (mph)	Estimated Outages (thousand)	Estimated Restoration (days)
Tropical	39-73	100 to 250	1 to 3
Cat-1 Hurricane	74-95	250 to 500	3 to 6
Cat-2 Hurricane	96-110	500 to 750	10 to 15
Cat-3 Hurricane	111-130	750 to 1,000	15 to 30
Cat-4 Hurricane	131-155	1,000 plus	30 plus