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Accident, at brentwood rd. / wb ok. (suffolk)

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Accident, at LAKE AV. (suffolk)

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Moderate congestion, between Route 111 (Exit 56) and Old Nichols Rd. (Exit 58). Slow traffic, + crash blocks hov lane after rt 111/x56 + slow jericho tpke/x40 to before glen cove rd/x39 + downed tree blocks right lane + & heavy into queens., Allow extra time

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Accident, at MCCALL AVE. at, MCCALL AVE, (suffolk)

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August 4, 2009

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Many South Shore ocean swimmers rescued from rip current

July 31, 2009 By BILL BLEYER  mailto:[email-masked]?subject=Newsday.com Article

A surfer rides a wave at Gilgo Beach. / Newsday File Photo- Daniel Goodrich / September 7,2008

The past 10 days have been tough on South Shore ocean swimmers and the lifeguards who protect them.

And because a storm passed through Friday afternoon, weekend conditions could continue to be troublesome, said George Gorman Jr., deputy regional director for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

"We've had a ton of rescues," said Tom Donovan, president of the Jones Beach Lifeguard Corps, the union for state park lifeguards. "It has been nonstop for over a week. We've had this low-pressure system sitting out in the Atlantic for over a week and even though the waves are not huge, it's just enough to make these small rip currents."

The biggest problems were at the Central Mall at Jones Beach and Field 2 at Robert Moses, Gorman said. "We've had to have some additional lifeguards on duty on overtime to assist the other lifeguards," he said.

Beachgoers are noticing. "I'd say it's rough," Jerry Penn of Queens said Friday at Jones Beach. "I brought the kids here. I'm keeping them close."

Jim Dooley, chief lifeguard for the Suffolk County Parks Department, said, "At Smith Point, just for the month of July, we've had 270 rescues, and at Cupsogue in Westhampton, which is our other ocean beach, we're at 198." He said those numbers were twice what they would be in a quieter summer, such as last year.

"Our rip currents this year have been unusual," Dooley said. "Normally you will have a rip current that will be in front of a particular area on the beach all day long. What we're finding this year is that a rip current will pop up for 10 minutes and have a lot of strength to it and then it will dissipate and then another one will pop up somewhere else. So you're constantly on your toes."

He said he believed the unusual pattern is due to dredging projects at Smith Point and Cupsogue this spring, which added sand to the beachfront. "It changes the topography of the bottom of your bathing area and you're going to have different situations develop," he said.

The winds also are having an effect. Jay Tanski, senior coastal processes specialist with the New York State Sea Grant Extension Program, said, "Right now we're dealing with what's called locally generated winds. Winds are coming out of the south-southwest and we don't have big swells so we have the short, steep choppy waves."

Aram Terchunian, coastal geologist at First Coastal Corp. in Westhampton Beach, said, "There have been a lot of rip currents but there's also been a lot of shore break. The shore break is when the beach is relatively steep, there's not a big swell and whatever waves there are break right on the beach and it's relatively deep water right up to the beach. Because the sand is moving around so much it's very easy to lose your footing."

Whatever the technical reasons, they make for a rough day at the beach.

Steve Suriano, 32, of Stony Brook, who was at Smith Point Park, said, "The current's pretty strong. I haven't seen it this strong in a long time."

Said Josh Krauss, 27, a Long Beach lifeguard for 13 years: "We've had some days where it's been crazy."

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