Brookhaven/
South Haven
Hamlets
Long Island, NY

Many of the developed areas of Brookhaven Hamlet are in the coastal floodplain and subject to flooding from storms such as hurricanes.  Long Island has had many such storms (see New York State Hurricane History.) 

The 1938 Hurricane "The Long Island Express" was the most destructive.  It was a category 3 storm.  The lowest pressure at the time of landfall occurred near Bellport, where a reading of 27.94 inches was recorded.  Eastern Long Island and New England were hit with wind speeds that exceeded 180 mph!  Downtown Westhampton Beach, a mile inland, was under 8 feet of water.  Brookhaven Hamlet escaped much of the most destructive force of the of this hurricane because it was near the path of the hurricane eye; the most destructive hurricane effects are usually in the northeast (12-3 o'clock) quadrant of the storm.  (A now large sycamore tree in my back yard artistically arranged at a sharp angle is reputed to have been blown so by the storm.)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issues maps which seek to identify Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA).  FEMA administers the National Flood Insurance Program.  Brookhaven Hamlet's Flood Insurance Rate Maps, or FIRMs, are reproduced below.  These maps are used to establish insurance rates for flood insurance.  Most (if not all) homeowners insurance policies do not cover flood damages.  It is only available through the Federal flood insurance program.  Its coverage is limited to $250,000 in building damages and $100,000 in personal property damages — and sets up the inevitable conflict over what is windstorm damage and what is flood/storm surge.  Flood insurance is obtained through regular insurance agents or brokers.  FloodSmart.gov provides some tools for estimating the cost of coverage.

What do FEMA Flood Maps Show?

The flood maps identify the following areas (as relevant for Brookhaven Hamlet):

FEMA Flood Insurance Studies (FIS) develop the underlying data to produce the Flood Insurance Rate Maps.  Click here for the Suffolk County Study  (This file is 5MB — be patient — and requires Adobe Reader) . 

Hurricane Storm Surge Modeling approaches the issue of flooding from a somewhat different perspective than that of the FEMA FIRMs.   While the perspective of the FIRM is to produce a map that can be used by insurance actuaries to assess risk over the long term so that appropriate rates can be developed, flood surge modeling is more focused on the specific effects of individual storms, without regard to their frequency or probability of occurring.    Animated Maps by Scott A. Mandia, Assoc. Professor - Physical Sciences, Suffolk County Community looks at the flood areas for Category 1 through 4 hurricanes along the Long Island coast.  Of interest is that there appears to be little practical difference in the storm surge area for the populated areas of Brookhaven Hamlet between a Category 1 and a Category 4 hurricane.

Many jurisdictions have public Evacuation Area Maps on the Web, but I was unable to find any for Suffolk County -- and I was not surprised given what I suspect is the general state of emergency planning in our area. 

Click on a map quadrant to enlarge view x 2.5 (see notes below)