Frequently Asked Questions

Most of the south shore of Long Island is considered a low level marsh land with the entire shore front area approximately one or two feet above sea level.  When these areas were developed for commercial and residential purposes more than 70 years ago, most roads and buildings were built without the concern for erosion or flooding.  Drainage pipes were built underground in the bays and canals along the shore line, which causes many of the stormwater runoff concerns we have today. When the south shore experiences heavy rain, flooding is expected to occur. As the rainwater floods the bays and canals, salt water floods over the bulkheads and causes additional flooding damage on roads and properties. In addition to flooding above ground, the salt water is pushed back into the drainage pipes underground, causing a surge within the pipes and overflow. All of this surge of water, both rain and salt water, adds to the contamination of the Great South Bay. FEMA has designated most of the area as an AE6 Flood Zone, which means that anything less than six feet above sea level is prone to flooding. To find out if you live in a flood zone in Suffolk County, check out the online map at Suffolk County Flood Maps. 

When Suffolk County installed storm sewers in areas along the south shore 20 years ago, some roads were raised a few feet and drainage was improved. This also helped to solve many of the flooding problems in the area with the exception of flooding as a result of nor'easter storms and hurricanes. Raising the grade in an entire area is impossible for any village, town or county to accomplish for budgetary reasons, but homeowners and business owners are encouraged to make grade and drainage improvements on their own properties.

Flood Zones are geographic areas that FEMA has defined according to varying levels of flood risk. These zones are depicted on a community's Flood Insurance Rate Map or Flood Hazard Boundary Map. Each zone reflects the severity or type of flooding in an area.

Most of the south shore of Long Island is considered a low level marsh land. A dynamic map of the areas that are considered flood zones can be found online at Suffolk County Flood Maps.

The Town has recently requested that local Federal and State elected officials make dredging of the inlets along the south shore a priority using stimulus money. Dredging is an excavation activity in shallow seas or fresh water areas with the purpose of gathering bottom sediments and disposing them at a different location. Dredging the inlets would serve to remediate contaminants that are in our inlets as a result of stormwater surges.

Over the course of time, the Town has experimented with a number of solutions to mitigate the flooding concerns along our south shore. Unfortunately, much was met without success. Flapper valves were installed on the water side of several drainage pipes only to have them seal up in the closed position with marine life causing flooding during normal rain events. These valves require a lot of maintenance and, since there are potentially thousands of locations that these can be installed, this is not a feasible solution. At one time, duckbill valves were mounted on the outside of Town controlled bulkheads to prevent contaminations due to the backflow of water. A duckbill valve is generally made out of rubber and shaped like the beak of a duck. They are more costly than flapper valves and boats tended to break them off when docking. In addition, they also had a tendency to freeze in the winter, which makes them non-viable solutions. In certain areas, the Town built catch basins that serve to hold stormwater in rain events. However, because of the high water table, the catch basins are often ½ full most of the time causing a mosquito problem (so they don't work in every area). The Town is committed to developing new and affordable solutions for the flooding problems along the shore line and will work with the residents and businesses in those areas.

Residents and business owners in flood zones are strongly advised to purchase flood insurance. Actions you can take to insure personal items are not destroyed by flooding include:

• Keeping items off of the ground, especially in basements and garages, and raised to a higher elevation
• Improving the grading issues on personal property

Yes, there are emergency shelters throughout the Town, but they are not always open during every storm. If there is a severe storm in the area, residents are urged to listen to the local radio stations for shelter location information. The Department of Emergency Preparedness has more information about what to do during natural disasters or storms, including where to locate designated emergency shelters.