Community Corner
Boats Pulled from Port Chester Marina; Dock Crews Brace for Possible Flooding
Crews pulled more than a dozen boats from marina waters Friday and will return early this morning for more preparations ahead of the storm.
Whether Hurricane Irene turns out to be historic or hype, there's one place in Port Chester where employees are preparing for the worst.
While shoppers descended en masse on Costco and local hardware stores, dock workers at Port Chester's waterfront pulled boats from the water Friday and will work to secure the docks against the impending hurricane today.
While not as exposed as docks in other communities, Port Chester's waterfront could still see high surges and flooding, village dockmasters said.
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“We’ve pulled out about 12 to 15 boats today,” Tim Breaden said Friday at Fox Island Marina. “Boats in the channel here are pretty well protected, but ones in Byram and Rye need to be moved.”
Breaden, a resident of Danbury, has worked around marinas for the last 30 years. He and Don Frank, the head of the Fox Island Marina for the last ten years, are a two-man work force responsible for keeping boats safe.
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“My main concern is getting the docks tied down,” said Frank toward the end of a long workday. “We’ll be out here about 7:30 a.m. for another busy day.”
As they worked, Breaden and Frank recalled memorable storms from the past few decades. Hurricane Gloria in 1985, and the 1991 nor’easter that became the backdrop for The Perfect Storm came to mind. Both Breaden and Frank agreed, if Mother Nature aligns itself and hits on all fronts, Irene has the potential to cause the most damage.
“If the storm hits under a full moon with high tide, we can get that 20 foot surge of water,” Frank said.
“If there is rain too, then you need to worry about the dam in Byram overflowing and rushing in,” said Frank.
Thankfully, the last full moon phase peaked mid-month; tide impacts, however, are tricker to predict because estimate's on the storm's arrival change constantly with updated radar data. Port Chester's tide is semidiurnal, meaning there are two high tides and two low tides daily.
But for marina staff, there are also more immediate concerns: “I’m just hoping we don’t get water in the office,” Frank said.
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