SUFFOLK COUNTY LEGISLATURE SUPERSTORM SANDY REVIEW TASK FORCE ------Report to the Legislature: Looking to the Past to Prepare for the Future Issued October 2019
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SUFFOLK COUNTY LEGISLATURE SUPERSTORM SANDY REVIEW TASK FORCE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Report to the Legislature: Looking to the Past to Prepare for the Future Issued October 2019 Commissioned by DuWAYNE GREGORY PRESIDING OFFICER 1 SUPERSTORM SANDY REVIEW TASK FORCE MEMBERS David Calone, Chair former Chair, Suffolk County Planning Commission Dorian Dale, Vice Chair Suffolk County Chief Recovery Officer and Sustainability Director Gil Anderson* Kevin Devlin Suffolk County Department of Public Works Office of New York State Senator John Brooks James Andrews Marwa Fawaz Suffolk County Division of Consumer Affairs VHB Matt Aracich Rich Humann Building Trades Council of H2M Nassau and Suffolk Kimberly Jean-Pierre Ed Barnes New York State Assemblywoman Suffolk County Department of Public Works Karyn Kemp-Smith Malcolm Bowman PSEG-Long Island Stony Brook University Frank Krotschinsky School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Suffolk County Office for People with Disabilities Alison Branco* Melissa Luckman The Nature Conservancy Touro Law Center Disaster Relief Clinic John Brooks Ed Moltzen New York State Senator Suffolk County Executive’s Office John Bouvier Gwen O’Shea* Town of Southampton Community Development Corp. of LI Councilman Craig Rhodes Scott Carlin Suffolk County Department of Public Works Long Island University-Post Michael Romagnoli Jennifer Casey* Suffolk County Police Department Suffolk County Planning Commission Ed Schneyer John Cifelli* Suffolk County Office of Emergency Management Town of Babylon Ralph Scordino Artie Cipoletti Babylon Village Mayor DaVinci Construction Zach Tierney Brendan Cunningham New York State Governor’s Office of New York State Assemblywoman Office of Storm Recovery Kimberly Jean-Pierre Beth Walters Louis Debrino Community Advocate, South Shore Recovery PSEG-Long Island Coalition, Adopt a House *denotes Working Group leader ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Superstorm Sandy Review Task Force Wishes to Thank: Patrick Beckley, New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Rob Calarco, Suffolk County Legislator, 7th District John Cameron, Cameron Engineering Sammy Chu, former Suffolk Director of Operations and Commissioner of Suffolk County Department of Labor, Licensing & Consumer Affairs Frank Ciampa, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Steve Englebright, New York State Assemblyman, 4th District Bridget Fleming, Suffolk County Legislator, 2nd District Robert Fruedenburg, Regional Plan Association Jeremy Glicksman, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Kara Hahn, Suffolk County Legislator, 5th District Jon Kaiman, Suffolk County Deputy County Executive Sarah Lansdale, Director, Suffolk County Division of Planning and Environment Julie Lofstad, Southampton Town Councilwoman Anthony Manetta, Babylon Town Councilman Tony Martinez, Babylon Town Councilman Kevin McCaffrey, Suffolk County Legislator, 14th District Carrie Meek Gallagher, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Justin Myers, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Ed Romaine, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Rich Rotanz, Rotanz & Associates Rebecca Sanin, Health and Welfare Council of Long Island Rich Schaffer, Babylon Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, Southampton Town Supervisor Tina Schneyer, Suffolk County resident The Suffolk County Supervisors Association Former Community Reconstruction Zone Planning Committee Members: Mary Adams, Babylon Village Jessica Bernius, Amityville Mary Byrnes, Amityville Joan Donnison, Bay Village/Amityville Lawrence Donohue, West Islip Richard Remmer, Oakdale/Sayville John Siebert, Mastic Beach Village Maura Spery, Mastic Beach Village, former Mayor Brian Zitani, Town of Babylon And especially Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory and his staff, including Lora Gellerstein, Josh Slaughter, Christina DeLisi, Jason Richberg, Robert Fonti, Nancy Jacobsen and Derek Stein. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory ....................................... 1 Letter from Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone ................................................................................. 2 Letter from Task Force Chair David Calone .............................................................................................. 3 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Storm Response ........................................................................................................................ 11 Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan And Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan ......... 12 Debris Management ................................................................................................................................... 14 Electrical Restoration/Communication ...................................................................................................... 17 Community Information Centers ............................................................................................................... 22 Immediate Humanitarian Response ........................................................................................................... 23 Portable Emergency Generators ................................................................................................................ 25 Shared Services During Emergency Response .......................................................................................... 25 Chapter II: Storm Recovery and Reconstruction ..................................................................................... 27 Public Communication ............................................................................................................................... 28 Harnessing the Support of the Community ............................................................................................... 29 Getting Back Into The Home ........................................................................................................................ 31 Contractor Malfeasance ............................................................................................................................. 35 Intergovernmental Data Coordination ....................................................................................................... 39 Making Optimal Use Of Federal And State Recovery Resources ............................................................ 39 Chapter III: Pre-Storm Resilient Adaptation…………………………………………………………...59 Land Use And Zoning Policies…………………………………………………………………………..60 Protecting Coastal Wetlands……………………………………………………………………………..66 Storms and Water Quality……………………………………………………………………………….71 Protecting Barrier Beaches………………………………………………………………………………79 Offshore Reefs……………………………………………………………………………………………82 Long Island (Or Tri-State) Coastal Commission………………………………………………………...84 Public Education ........................................................................................................................................ 86 Chapter IV: Storm-Related Infrastructure……………………………………………………………...87 Natural Gas Infrastructure .......................................................................................................................... 87 Gasoline Infrastructure ............................................................................................................................... 89 Municipal Requirement for Oil/Propane Tank Anchoring in Flood Prone Areas .................................... 92 Electrical Infrastructure.............................................................................................................................. 94 iv Managing Storm Surge by Using Ocean Inlet Barriers ............................................................................. 98 Managing Storm Water Through Drainage ............................................................................................. 100 Communications Infrastructure ............................................................................................................... 103 Other Vulnerable Infrastructure ............................................................................................................... 105 Chapter V: 100-Year View………………………………………………………………………………111 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………………………113 Exhibit A: “Resiliency Measures that Pay for Themselves,” an article by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone ......................................................................................................................................... 113 Exhibit B: Summary of Public Testimony from Task Force Hearings .................................................. 117 Exhibit C: Suffolk County Superstorm Sandy After-Action Review, Fall 2013 .................................... 128 Exhibit D: NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program, Suffolk County Projects ......................... 192 Exhibit E: Recommendations Grouped by Governing Jurisdiction ......................................................... 196 v vi A Letter from Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer DUWAYNE GREGORY On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy made landfall on the East Coast of the United States, becoming the deadliest and most destructive storm of the 2012 hurricane season and the second most costly