The height of maximum storm surge is a function of storm strength, location of eye landfall, tidal time of landfall, elevation, and speed of storm. The images below represent the various regions of the southern shores of Long Island as well as the north and south forks as they would be affected by storm surge from various strength hurricanes. The images are derived from HURREVAC, a DOS-based software application that uses historical storm data and Long Island regional topography to estimate areas that would be inundated by water. (It should be noted that category 5 storm surges are not predicted by HURREVAC since there is little probability of such storms and no historical data exists for reference.) Each zone assumes landfall within that zone at normal tidal height. For high tide landfall, one would need to add 1/2 normal tide height to the predicted surge, while landfall at low tide would require a subtraction of 1/2 normal tide height from the predicted surge. The animated image was created using Microsoft GIF Animator and shows a loop of all maps within the zone with a five second interval between images.

Storm Surge Heights

No Hurricane CAT 1 Hurricane CAT 2 Hurricane CAT 3 Hurricane CAT 4 Hurricane All Maps Animation	No Hurricane CAT 1 Hurricane CAT 2 Hurricane CAT 3 Hurricane CAT 4 Hurricane All Maps Animation	No Hurricane CAT 1 Hurricane CAT 2 Hurricane CAT 3 Hurricane CAT 4 Hurricane All Maps Animation	No Hurricane CAT 1 Hurricane CAT 2 Hurricane CAT 3 Hurricane CAT 4 Hurricane All Maps Animation
No Hurricane CAT 1 Hurricane CAT 2 Hurricane CAT 3 Hurricane CAT 4 Hurricane All Maps Animation	No Hurricane CAT 1 Hurricane CAT 2 Hurricane CAT 3 Hurricane CAT 4 Hurricane All Maps Animation	No Hurricane CAT 1 Hurricane CAT 2 Hurricane CAT 3 Hurricane CAT 4 Hurricane All Maps Animation	No Hurricane CAT 1 Hurricane CAT 2 Hurricane CAT 3 Hurricane CAT 4 Hurricane All Maps Animation

The 1938 Hurricane was a category 3 storm that made landfall near Bellport, New York. Therefore, the three surge maps that best represent what may have occurred in 1938 are:

• Bellport Zone
• Westhampton Beach Zone
• Southampton Zone

Some of the key observations from the above include:

• Category 1 hurricanes inundate just about all of the immediate south shore of the Island, including the north side of Great South Bay locations and both sides of the north and south forks.
• Montauk Highway (RT. 27A) is completely covered by flood waters during a Category 3 hurricane. Therefore, this road would be considered impassable during the storm.
• The highest storm surges (Category 4) would occur in the following regions:
  • Amityville Harbor - 29 feet
  • Atlantic Beach & Long Beach areas - 24 to 28 feet
  • South Oyster Bay, Middle Bay, & East Bay areas - 24 to 28 feet
  • Montauk Point is completely cut off from rest of south fork during a category 1 storm.
  • Much of the north and south forks are entirely under water during a category 3 hurricane.
  • A category 4 hurricane inundates the entire towns of: Amityville, Lindenhurst, Babylon, West Islip, East Islip, Bayshore, Gilgo Beach, Cedar Beach, Great South Beach, Fair Harbor, Cherry Grove, Cupsogue, Westhampton Beach, Watermill Beach, Wainscott Beach, Plum Island, Gardiner's Island, Orient, Shelter Island (except for a few high points), Greenport, North Haven, Amagansett Beach, Napeague Beach, Montauk, Woodmere, Valley Stream, Linbrook, Long Beach, Atlantic Beach, Freeport, Merrick, Wantagh, Lido Beach, Jones Beach, and Tobay Beach.