Riverhead cleans up after powerful nor’easter downs trees and floods downtown businesses
Well, that soaked! Riverhead crews cleared fallen trees and reopened roads Monday after a weekend nor’easter tore through the East End — with flooding leaving some downtown businesses all wet.
Mugs on Main was shuttered after roughly six inches of water flooded its basement, owner Kasandra Watkins Schaeffer said. Groundwater had seeped in from beneath the concrete at the store’s at 33 E. Main St. location, leaving the business to contend with the storm’s aftermath even as conditions improved.
“The additional rain and the storm surge has been really catastrophic for us,” Ms. Watkins Schaeffer told the Riverhead News-Review in a text Monday.
She had emptied the basement after watching news reports about the approaching storm surge, spending three days moving items to a storage unit or the cafe’s Quogue location. The popular java joint reopened Tuesday.
The freak early fall nor’easter flooded portions of downtown Riverhead’s waterfront Saturday, with water spreading across Peconic Riverfront Park and barricades blocking access to Heidi Behr Way.
Water damage was not the only fallout from the storm. Across town, Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski reported more than 40 downed trees following the weekend’s high winds. Gusts also tore the fabric roofs off two highway salt barns, he said.
“Wind does the most damage,” Mr. Zaleski said.
With large limbs cleared and flooding receding, previously closed roads were back open Monday, he said. Water had pooled up to six inches deep in some flood-prone spots.
“We handled everything pretty promptly. When we’re telling people to stay home, we go to work,” Mr. Zaleski said.
Before the storm, Supervisor Jerry Halpin declared a state of emergency effective Friday evening. The town closed park facilities and suspended four-wheel-drive access to its North Shore beaches.
The nor’easter washed out weekend plans. Riverhead Raceway moved its championship weekend to Oct. 3 and 4, while the Wading River-Shoreham Chamber Fall Festival was postponed until Oct. 18.
The Riverhead Fire Department canceled its open house, including Sunday’s rain date, and is looking to reschedule it for April 2027.
