Quick-moving storm floods businesses in Greenport

A quick-moving storm that swept across the North Fork this afternoon flooded portions of Greenport, forcing businesses to briefly shut down.

Noah Schwartz said his restaurant Noah’s on Front Street quickly flooded with water as the street filled up with several inches of rain. The restaurant had about two or three inches of water in the kitchen and office, he said.

Mr. Schwartz said the restaurant was coming off the lunch rush when the storm blew through. He said at around 5 p.m. that he hoped to have the restaurant back open in about an hour and that evening reservations were pushed back.

The roads were clear of water a short time after the storm.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning at about 4:30 p.m. for the east end of Suffolk County that lasted until 4:45 p.m. A home in Peconic was destroyed by fire after an apparent lightning strike.

Greg Grove, the owner of Greenport Wine and Spirits, said his business was forced to close as well because of flooding but was optimistic the store would reopen tonight.

“We just have some wet cardboard,” he said.

Aldo Maiorana, the owner of Aldo’s, said that despite some water coming into the store, they continued to serve coffee. He said every time a car drove by, it pushed water into the coffee shop, but it wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle.

“The weather came to say hello,” he joked.

Photo caption: The intersection of First Street and Front Street in Greenport about 4:30 p.m. (Credit: Ellen Jaffe)

See more photos of the storm from across the North Fork: