Community Corner

Sandy Devastates Red Hook: [PHOTOS]

Storm surge swamps neighborhood with as much as six feet of water.

BROOKLYN, NY -- A local man returned to his home Tuesday to find his front and back door blown out and his basement flooded with water.

“We weren’t surprised,” Chris Goodman said. “Everyone’s basement is flooded. There’s damage everywhere.”

Welcome to Red Hook, post-Hurricane Sandy.

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Goodman, who lives on Dikeman Street, was one of scores of residents, tenants and business owners just beginning to assess, cleanup and clear flooded homes, debris-strewn streets and ruined shops.

“We knew rain and wind wouldn’t be a problem … we knew it was going to be the surge,” Goodman said.

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That predication came true Monday night into Tuesday morning as the rising seas in Sandy’s wake swamped Red Hook’s waterfront under several feet of water.

Evidence of the deluge abounded in the increasingly build-up warehouse district encompassing streets like Van Dyke, Conover and Van Brunt.

Fairway supermarket showed signs of sustaining a six-foot storm surge. As of Tuesday morning, much of Van Brunt Street below Beard Street was still covered with water.

At 106 Ferris St., a commercial studio building looking out on Valentino Pier, Sandy’s surge crashed through the windows, inundating three newly renovated spaces, according to a longtime tenant who rode out the storm.

“It flooded everything,” said the tenant, who said he had rented a space in the building for 25 years.

On the waterfront down from Valentino Pier, the sickly smell of sewage permeated the air. Oil slicks stretched down Reed Street a block away from New York Harbor. 251 Conover St. next to Sonny’s Bar showed evidence of severe basement flooding. The Waterfront Museum across the street was damaged.

F&M Bagels, before the storm, was shuttered Tuesday.

Gabriel Shrem returned to his office space at 204 Van Dyke St. to find little damage. However, the power — as is the case for much of the neighborhood — was out, with no indication of when it would return.

Ed. note: This version of our story updates the status of the Waterfront Museum. While the exact condition of the museum isn't clear, it was clearly damaged, not destroyed.


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