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Southold spared record rainfall that flooded parts of Suffolk

A National Weather Service map from this morning showed the heaviest rain hit western Suffolk County. Southold Town was spared any flooding.
A National Weather Service map from this morning showed the heaviest rain hit western Suffolk County. Southold Town was spared any flooding.

While areas in southwestern Suffolk County were doused by record amounts of rainfall Wednesday, the North Fork was spared any major accumulation.

Meteorologist Tim Morrin of the National Weather Service said weather stations in Mattituck and Greenport recorded rainfall amounts of less than an inch — while areas in Islip experienced 13.26 inches of precipitation — a state record for precipitation in a 24-hour period.

“It’s just where all the elements came together,” Mr. Morrin said. “It happened to line up in southwestern Suffolk.”

Highway Superintendent Vincent Orlando said Southold Town fared well with the storm.

“We were fortunate we didn’t get the rain that they got to the west of us,” he said. “Our flood prone areas are not even flooded.”

Mr. Orlando said two homes, one in Southold and one in Orient, suffered power outages due to a downed tree and limbs from the wind.

Highway workers are working with PSEG officials to get the two homes back on the grid.

According to the online PSEG power outages map, about 60 people were out of power in Greenport, while several customers in Peconic also dealt with outages.

Mr. Morrin said scattered showers and light sprinkles are likely within the next few hours, but any real measurable amount of rainfall is over.

As nearby as Wading River and Calverton, roads were closed because of flooding Wednesday morning. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone called it “historic flash flooding” and urged residents this morning to stay off the roads until flooding subsided. Delays were reported with the LIRR and at MacArthur Airport in Islip.

See some scenes from around Suffolk County today: