Portion of Ocean Parkway Dunes Swept Away by Weekend Storm

A recently repaired portion of the Ocean Parkway dunes near Gilgo Beach was back into the ocean after pounding waves caused by an offshore storm system washed away the ground near the roadway.

The Ocean Parkway was heavily damaged by storm surge from Hurricane Sandy last October, closing the roadway for months as crews worked around the clock to fix the road after it collapsed into the ocean.

New York State workers were back at it again on Monday, rushing to yet again fix the $33 million repair after another offshore storm eroded the sand back into the ocean.

Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed crews last year through Memorial Day to repair the dunes and roadways along the Ocean Parkway to pre-Sandy conditions, using a combination of state and federal funds to get the popular summer hotspot back open in time for the season. The repairs to the area, however, did not install anything to prevent another storm from causing the same damage.

"Repeatedly protecting our infrastructure for yesterday's threats is not a sustainable use of public money," Ethan Strell, an associate director and fellow at Columbia University's Center for Climate Change Law, told Newsday.

The new damage reportedly caused waves to come within 15 feet of the parkway. New work on the dune will keep two eastbound lanes closed for an undetermined amount of time, according to the state's emergency contractor Bove Industries Inc.

To fix the dune again, state officials said 30,000 cubic yards of sand will be moved to help repair the freshly wounded dune.

This past weekend's storm did not bring much rain, but pounded the coastline with higher than expected tides and huge waves. Portions of coastal villages like Babylon and Lindenhurst faced flooding as deep as two feet in some spots during high tides.