How would things change? (Merrick: salary, houses, move)

[Glad2BHere]

Originally Posted by newtoli

I just got my homeowners insurance through Travellers, and I am 3 houses from the water.

flood ins. $350, yearly homeowners $1k

What town if you dont mind me asking?

[4StanleyCups]

Originally Posted by ClarkStreetKid

Does LI have any hurricane evacuation routes, or is that just a totally pointless effort?

Certain parkways have had signage as "Coastal Evacuation Route" for years, but as you said the whole thing is pointless because no matter what parkway or exp'wy it is, all those thousands of cars would have to funnel into one of only 3 exit points:

South: Belt Parkway to cross the Verrazano Bridge to Staten Island and then to NJ

North: Cross Island Parkway to the Throgs Neck Bridge to Westchester

Central: LIE to the Midtown Tunnel to Manhattan (not likely anyone would want to do that, what if the hurricane changes course and wallops NYC instead?)

I live on the south shore, south of 27A, so in the event of a major hurricane my house is gone which is why I've been looking for another house in the Smithtown area. So far anything I've seen that matches what I want (there hasn't been much even close for the past 6 months) has been in St James and the taxes there are as much as I'm paying now but for a house 1/2 the size of what I've got. I have a few different neighborhoods in mind but nothing's come on the market yet.

I'm not under any pressure to move, except this time of year (hurricane season) when I do get kind of nervous. From early August to early October, the NOAA hurricane site becomes my homepage!

[pdcnret]

In Nassau County, the posted evacuation routes are for those living on the barrier island (Long Beach, Atlantic Beach, Point Lookout, Lido) and lead to Nassau Community College. There are three routes, one on each end and one in the middle of the barrier island. The reason they have been established is to send those people to the center of the island because it is assumed that in a major storm there will be widespread damage and destruction which would mean extended sheltering for those residents. Nassau Community College is the primary shelter for barrier island residents.

There are no plans to evacuate Long Island. Those in the profession know that it is not possible.

[jfkIII]

Thanks 4Stan for your thorough response! Regarding evacuation routes...it looks like the best bet might be an inflatable raft?

[newtoli]

Living right next to the bay, I know if a hurricane is on it's way, I'm screwed. I will be leaving days ahead of time to be safe (I also have NOAA bookmarked). After seeing what happened in Katrina, I have carriers for all of my pets and would head out planning on horrific traffic. Would rather be safe than sorry.

[ClarkStreetKid]

I guess plan B would have everyone heading for Jaynes Hill with a bag lunch. I have to wonder if there are plans in the works if the power grid is heavily damaged or the water supply interrupted?

Does anybody remember why a bridge or two to CT were never built?

[newtoli]

I wish there was a bridge to CT. I'm up in the Stamford area a lot, and god, would that be convenient.

[4StanleyCups]

Originally Posted by newtoli

Living right next to the bay, I know if a hurricane is on it's way, I'm screwed. I will be leaving days ahead of time to be safe (I also have NOAA bookmarked). After seeing what happened in Katrina, I have carriers for all of my pets and would head out planning on horrific traffic. Would rather be safe than sorry.

I'm in the same boat (no pun intended). My house is about 2000 ft from the bay and less than 500 ft from a canal. I'm not waterfront but 2 of my 3 adjacent neighbors are (the next-door one and the one behind me).

My plan is to get a reservation on the Pt Jeff/Bridgeport Ferry as soon as it seems likely the storm is possibly headed our way, taking all the critical stuff with me (got it already listed and printed out). I wouldn't wait until they suspend service but like you, would go BEFORE it's a necessity. I've got a list of hotels in central CT and one of them will be my home base for at least a week or until whenever power gets restored to a fair percentage of LI. No sense being stranded here, even mid-island, fighting for whatever available sources of gas, food, hot water, whatever. I'd rather be outta town!

[4StanleyCups]

Originally Posted by jfkIII

Thanks 4Stan for your thorough response! Regarding evacuation routes...it looks like the best bet might be an inflatable raft?

Or a friend with a decent sized boat that can get you across the Sound to CT well ahead of time! LOL

[4StanleyCups]

Originally Posted by pdcnret

The reason they have been established is to send those people to the center of the island because it is assumed that in a major storm there will be widespread damage and destruction which would mean extended sheltering for those residents. Nassau Community College is the primary shelter for barrier island residents.

There are no plans to evacuate Long Island. Those in the profession know that it is not possible.

I agree, it isn't possible but you know people will try...

I'm sure you saw the article last week in Newsday about there not being enough shelter capacity:

"If you're thinking of riding out the next big hurricane in a shelter, think again. There's not nearly enough room.

About 625,000 people in Nassau and Suffolk live in areas that are considered vulnerable to a hurricane, but county emergency management officials say if a Category 4 hurricane hits Long Island, they can only house about 15 percent of that population -- about 107,000.

"If big storm hits, shelter space on LI may be scarce - Newsday.com (broken link)