A flood of frustration for Eaton Lane residents

“Hurricane Sandy destroyed the first level of our house. We spent a lot of time and money redoing the whole house and raising it. So we thought once that was done, we were safe,” said Kathy Manzione, who has lived in her home on Eaton Lane in West Islip for 30 years. “But the water is getting worse and worse, and with the water rising, there are things they need to do and change.”

A low-lying street off the Great South Bay, Eaton Lane is prone to flooding during big storms like Sandy. Yet over the past 10 years, the flooding problem has gradually intensified to the point that residents are often trapped in or out of their houses due to flooding from regular rainfall.

According to residents, the flooding problem is twofold.

“During heavy rains, the sewers fill up and it all flows into portions of the street, which makes the street uninhabitable to get down the block. When there is heavy rainfall, it can be on the block for 18 hours,” explained resident Rob Walsh. “Secondly, when there is heavy wind and storms, the water comes over the bulkhead.”

The town installed a large stationary pump at the end of the road and special tide flex valves for drainage. Residents claim that despite those efforts, due to the pump’s high-water shutoff, the pump turns off once it is inundated with water, and they have witnessed an increase in the level of flooding over the past five years.

New kid on the block

Residents have also increasingly advocated for themselves since their new neighbor, Tom Connors, moved in earlier this year

Since Hurricane Sandy, residents reached out to the town for increased assistance, though over the years, many felt that their voices had not been heard.

“I used to go down there and talk to them in person and ask if they were doing anything and if we could help [with] anything,” said Manzione. “It gets to the point of how much longer can we yell at these people?”

“When I first moved on the block, I initiated a lot of communication with the town, and I had Sen. Boyle send the town a letter outlining a plan about four years ago. But the town did nothing with it,” said Walsh. “I got busy in my personal life and I did not have the energy to continue. They wear you down until you forget about it.”

Upon moving, Connors was shocked to find the street would flood even during regular rainfall, and more shocked that his neighbors had grown accustomed to it.

“My neighbors have been calling and emailing them for over a decade. Nothing has happened,” said Connors. “[My neighbors] basically told me that they were beaten down by the whole process, the stonewalling, vague responses or no responses, so they kind of gave up after all these years. I guess I am the fresh blood on the block that is now dealing with this as the problem gets worse.”

Connors was especially surprised to learn about a post-Sandy study known as the 2014 Suffolk County multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, which was approved by FEMA, and specifically outlined a mitigation plan for Eaton Lane in West Islip. The plan called upon the town to raise the town-owned bulkhead, elevate the road 12 inches, and implement a closed drainage system, yet it was never implemented by the town.

After Eaton Lane residents once again voiced their concerns at a June 11 town board meeting, about eight residents attended a private meeting one week later with Department of Public Works commissioner Tom Owens.

Karen Berger, an Eaton Lane resident of 40 years, said that residents were told that the town is putting together a committee to address the flooding.

“They said they are aware of the problem, but the problem is over their head. They need to get a study done by somebody outside by the town,” said Connors. “In order to get a study done, they have to ask for money from the budget for next year, 2025, and once the study is done, they can try and get money to fix the problem in 2026.”

Town officials did meet with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) at the site earlier this summer. A Town of Islip spokesperson shared, “an assessment/study needs to be done to create a plan to attempt to resolve these issues during severe-weather events.”

How bad is it, really?

“All of us have lost a car.” shared Berger. “We had a car in the street because we had been blacktopping the driveway. Within 45 minutes, water was up to the steering wheel inside the car. The insurance company totaled it.”

Residents are no stranger to the financial strain caused by the flooding. With some residents claiming to pay $5 to $6,000 a year in flood insurance in addition to homeowner’s insurance and regular taxes, the frustration of residents is compounded.

“It is really frustrating to live in a community where we pay very high taxes—I pay $21,000 a year in taxes—we have a problem, and they refuse to get an environmental study done to figure out what needs to be done long term to correct it once and for all,” said Walsh.

While the financial burden of property damage has taken its toll on residents, their greatest concern is safety.

Berger’s daughter, Christina, is in a wheelchair and is unable to walk. Berger is extra careful not to be away from home with her daughter if there is a storm warning.

“One time I was stuck on the road and we were not able to get back into my house. I went to the fire department to ask if they would bring Christina in, and they said they would not bring me into a flood zone, they would only take someone out of a flood zone,” said Berger. “It is scary to me that if I need to take her out of the house in a storm, I cannot get her out. And I cannot park her car down the block and have a wheelchair pushed through 2 feet of water.”

Manzione and Berger have had plenty of instances in which important blood transfusions and doctor appointments have had to be canceled, as the water in the street was too high to drive through, or too high to walk through—“even with boots,” said Manzione.

All residents have been impacted one way or another. The street recently flooded during Connors’s son’s first birthday party, and 70 people had to leave with their shoes off to get in their cars. A neighbor’s daughter had to be pulled out of her house by the fire department on her wedding day. When Manzione owned a business, the store frequently would not open when she was stuck inside her home.

Looking forward

Since the June 18 meeting with the DPW commissioner, the DPW came within the week to clean the drains, and residents noticed an improvement in the level of flooding. Yet seemingly, all the residents agree that to permanently fix the issue, the road must be raised, and at the very least, a new pump needs to be installed and the bulkhead must be raised.

“They keep putting Band-Aids on something that needs stitches,” commented Lou Manzione. “They come down the street with five or six tanker trucks and pump water from the street for hours, instead of putting money toward what really needs to be done.”

According to Connors, town officials say they are planning to get the money for an outside study in the 2025 budget and begin to fix the problem in 2026. The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which recently passed in the House, may further aid the town’s efforts to have a study completed by the USACE.

Congressman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) secured the inclusion of language in the WRDA authorizing feasibility studies for several local projects, including a project for flood risk management in the Town of Islip. The language is for a townwide study, which could encompass Eaton Lane. Ultimately, the USACE will be the overarching authority, but a communications director for Rep. Garbarino shared they will likely consult with the relevant towns to identify problem areas. While timing for passage has not formally been set, the WRDA is expected to pass by the end of this year.

“My priority is ensuring that our local municipalities are provided with the tools necessary to reduce flood risk and restore our shoreline whenever necessary,” said Rep. Garbarino. “That’s why I continue to work closely with the Army Corps of Engineers on projects across the South Shore and why I fought to bring federal resources back to Long Island for storm damage prevention and recovery.”

For those wondering, ‘why not leave?’

For residents like Berger, who has lived in her home since 1974, and Walsh, who has children in the school district, moving would not be a scot-free solution to their flooding woes. Residents are aware that as the water goes up, the resale value of their homes goes down.

“Houses everywhere are going up, but the house next door, they lowered their house price a few times because people saw the flooding and do not want to live there,” said Manzione. “He had a buyer for the house for what he thought was a fair price. When the buyer came to make the final sale, it rained that day. They could not get down the street, and they backed out.”

Despite having spent hundreds of thousands to raise her house after Sandy, Manzione feels she would have no choice but to leave if the flooding continues to worsen due to the increase in flood and homeowners’ insurance.

“We want to stay in the area and stay here,” said Manzione. “I love my neighbors. If it is not flooding, it is a beautiful block.”