Dear Lord.
I live up on a hill 270 ft above and about 2.5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. From the corner of my street we have the most amazing view of Fire Island and the ocean.
I am accustomed to looking out and seeing all the houses that dot Fire Island. I walked to the corner this morning and looked and there was nothing. No houses, and even no discernible Fire Island.
The devastation appears massive. Please pray for all those down by the shore, for those who didn’t leave and for those who have lost everything.
Pray.
October 30, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Yes, we must pray. We need God's help.
October 30, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Prayers for all those suffering.
October 30, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Prayers.
October 30, 2012 at 2:14 pm
I know how you feel. I live in Texas and lived through Hurricane Ike.
October 30, 2012 at 2:32 pm
I expect we will hear many similar stories in the next few days, weeks or more. Prayers for all affected by the devastation.
October 30, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Thank God, Patrick is still with us.
October 30, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Amen
October 30, 2012 at 9:41 pm
Amen.
– Mack in Texas
October 31, 2012 at 2:44 am
Why the heck did those people stay? Wall Street Journal blog as of 10:45 pm:
UPDATE | At least 120 people remain trapped on Fire Island, a narrow barrier island off the south shore of Long Island, where 12 oceanfront houses were swept away by floods Monday night, Islip Town officials said.
There are no reports of injuries from the island, where the residents disobeyed a mandatory evacuation order and then became trapped when ferries stopped running and the island’s only road became impassable Sunday, officials said. Boats can’t land to rescue the stranded because all the island’s marinas have been destroyed, and the only road on the island has been washed out in many places.
“We still have residents on Fire Island,” said Anthony Senft, an Islip Town councilman. “We know that we’ve lost some houses. All of the town docks are underwater at this point.”
The Coast Guard was planning to fly over and assess damage Tuesday, Senft said.
Fire departments were working Tuesday morning to get people off the island, he said.
“There are residents that are on Fire Island that would like to leave,” he said. Others, he added, still wanted to stay.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. National Parks Service said rangers are still trying to assess the damage but that dunes appeared to be leveled across much of the island.
There were four confirmed “washovers” – instances in which the Atlantic Ocean meets the Great South Bay and covers Fire Island, which is less than a mile wide – and possibly more will be seen as authorities assess damage, Mr. Senft said. At least one of those washovers is so deep that it may develop into a permanent breach—an opening–between the ocean and the bay.
“Fire Island has been devastated by Hurricane Sandy, and it has been changed in a number of ways,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone
Septic systems on the island were “compromised” and there could be sewage in the floodwaters, he said.