By Hannah Reich Berman

 Once Labor Day passes, summer is over. It means no more swimming, because regardless of how hot it is, lifeguards are no longer on duty at the beaches. But that does not mean that there will be no more sunbathing–unless of course we have been warned about coastal flooding, which is exactly what happened a few days ago.

And it was supposedly going to happen over the Labor Day weekend, which would ruin the final days of summer. Due to the incredible flooding associated with the massive Superstorm Sandy of 2012, the words “coastal flooding” struck fear in the hearts of all those who lived through Sandy. It was an experience we will never forget.

So when the bulletins that warned of the impending Hurricane Hermine were issued, I froze in fear! All during Shabbos, which is supposed to be a day of rest, there was no menuchah. Personally, all I could think about was what to do with my car. The possibility of losing yet another car weighed heavily on my shoulders. Crazy (or maybe not so crazy) thoughts raced through my mind.

Should I move the car to higher ground? It was something I did not have the foresight to do four years ago and, as a result, I lost my car and everything in it! Would I be able to rent a car, or would there be not enough cars to go around, which was what happened four years ago? And if I was one of the lucky ones who did get a car, would I be able to put gas in the tank? Or would it be like 2012, when the lines at the gas stations were three blocks long? Back then, most of the local gas stations were out of business because the floodwaters rendered the gas pumps useless.

Would I once again lose my electricity, my gas heating unit, and everything else in my basement? Would the basement door come crashing in again and leave my house exposed until the door could be replaced? Would I have the same tough time finding someone to pump the water out of my basement?

Would my plants and my flowering trees be compromised, as they were due to Sandy? That was something I did not think about until the following spring, when my beautiful magnolia tree failed to blossom. Back in October, during and immediately after the storm, I forgot that salt water kills just about everything in its path–from gas burners and electrical panels to trees.

In 2012, I was unaware that seawater could find its way into the area, much less into my house. Since I do not live anywhere near the ocean, I naively thought that my neighbors and I would be safe. It never occurred to me that ocean water, when whipped into a frenzy by a storm, can affect the many small bodies of water that dot this area. Who knew that water from the Atlantic Ocean would find its way into those creeks, brooks, and ponds? Who knew that its salt content would mix with those bodies of water? And who knew it could cause them to overflow and head straight for my house?

As I write this, it occurs to me that it is the National Weather Service that is driving me crazy. It is early Monday morning, Labor Day, and all I hear from the meteorologists are questions. Will the storm continue on its eastward trajectory? That would be good for those of us living on the South Shore of Long Island, because it would then be moving farther away from us. Or will it suddenly veer west and become a real problem for us? It is now a little past 2 in the afternoon, and so far there have been no dangerously rising tides in Nassau County.

If the memory of losing my car during Sandy persists, and if anxiety, born of what happened then, causes me to feel the need to park my vehicle on higher ground, I could get away with simply parking it up the curb. That would be approximately an eight-inch elevation, but right now it appears that would be adequate.

Over the past few days, the buzzwords have been riptide, beach erosion, and coastal flooding. Meteorologists appear to be speculating. News anchors get the info from them, and then pass it on to the public. There is continuous chatter about Nassau County, Suffolk County, and the eastern end of Long Island. We were alerted to a mandatory evacuation for Fire Island. Within a few days, that order was revised and the residents were told they could remain. And the news bulletins are about more than just one state. If there is not enough contradictory information being disseminated about our New York communities, we get to hear about the possible problems on the Jersey Shore. It is enough to make one scream!

From my perspective, the National Weather Service hardly ever gets it right. Whenever they warn of impending doom from a hurricane or a tropical storm, nothing much happens. But when they make very little fuss about a storm, that is the one that turns out to be a devastating whopper! As of now, it appears that this is a case of the former: big warnings but little impact. But we do not get a choice. As residents of the area, we get what we get. I cannot wait until Hermine limps away. That is just the way it is.

Hannah Berman lives in Woodmere and gives private small-group lessons in mah-jongg and canasta. She can be reached at Savtahannah@aol.com or 516-902-3733.

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