Seaford Harbor Area Picking Up Pieces From Superstorm Sandy

Residents in the Seaford Harbor area are trying to pick up the pieces after getting battered with flood and wind damage from Superstorm Sandy Monday.

The section of Seaford south of Merrick Road was particularly hard hit from the epic storm because of its proximity to canal waters that stretch toward the Atlantic Ocean. Furniture sits out in front of many Seaford Harbor properties after incurring water damage from street flooding that stretched into houses and businesses. Many boats docked at marinas also landed on lawns in addition to trees that were uprooted from powerful winds that were estimated to be above Hurricane-force.

Kristen Makhlout said most of her neighbors on Bayview Avenue suffered water damage after the canal near the street flooded and a squid even landed on her lawn at one point during the storm. She said her house was elevated so it only suffered flooding in the basement and backyard. 

“We were very lucky,” said Makhlout of how her home did not take get damaged as much as others on her block.

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Makhlout, a 2001 Seaford High School graduate, said in the wake of Sandy, neighbors have been banding together offering help.

“I’ve seen people knocking on doors seeing if anybody needed any help,” she said.

While water levels got high on Bayview Avenue, Seaford Superintendent of Schools Brian Conboy said the Seaford Harbor School was spared flood damage. 

One Seaford Harbor area street that was especially hard hit was Narraganset Avenue, which also got battered with flooding during Hurricane-turned Tropical Storm Irene in late August 2011. Mary Kate Tischler elevated her Narragansett Avenue home after Irene and was in the final stages of rebuilding the house before Superstorm Sandy struck.

“Even after elevating our house after Irene, we still got three inches of water inside, so now we have to replace sheetrock and tile floors again,” Tischler said. “Our neighbors who didn't elevate after Irene had about five feet of water in their houses…I feel terrible for them.”