South Shore homes and Flooding

Yesterday DH & I went house hunting but really just a drive-by..we pass by first and see if we like it enough to make an appt. The first house was in Seaford, on Darby lane. We really liked it. No visable problems.
The second was on Nearwater in Massapequa. OMG did my mouth drop & stayed that way for at least an hour because the blocks were FLOODED! Like a foot of water everywhere!! Some town officials were there as were many home owners trying to figure out the problem. One owner told us "its only during hurricane season and in the spring, it comes up through the storm drains" Ok..thats like Half a year long!

Oviously that house was scratched off the list. Now my DH is pushing for the North Shore but I would rather see water & I'd be fine to never see another tree again..but Flooding that severe no way.

Pls,Pls help me to convince him it can't be like that everywhere. We are looking from Merrick to Massapequa,South of Merrick Rd.

Re: South Shore homes and Flooding

I live with my parents by the water in Lindenhurst. DO NOT MOVE NEAR THE WATER.... this week my sister couldnt get down our street for 3 hours!!!! You can get out, your cars can and probably will get damaged at some point. I had water come in my car last year and it took days for the smell of bay water to get out. I can not wait to move I dont know why people want to live by the water some days we cant get out of the house for hours and we are constently moving cars up and down the block. And in the winter we when get snow storms it always floods and it makes shoveling a PITA. As much as I love the water and south shore I wouldnt move this close to the water again.


***edit***
Just wanted to add that I dont want to leave the south shore I just wouldnt move south of Montuak Highway/ Merrick Road ever again.

Message edited 11/13/2010 2:50:48 PM.

Re: South Shore homes and Flooding

I looked both North and South shore when house hunting. Eventually I chose North shore for a variety of reasons, but this being one of them. Depends on your budget and what your other needs and wants are though. For me, North shore was where we wanted to be regardless.

Re: South Shore homes and Flooding

this is one of the reasons we're happy to be just a smidge NORTH of montauk. we're in a wet town, tho not sure if it's as extreme as it can be in lindy & seaford.

your inspector should be able to find evidence of flooding in the foundation if you're worried about that. at that point, you still have the chance to back out.

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I grew up south of Merrick Rd and our basement flooded constantly and the street would flood up to our house (1/2 mile from the bay) when we had big storms! I love the water though, especially the South Shore as I love the beaches and the ocean. DH is from the middle of the island so he had only heard of flooding on the South Shore. When we went looking at houses, we looked North and South and saw many nice houses. But when it came to pros and cons, I just needed to be on the South Shore. As much as he fought for North Shore, we bought a house on the south shore, but not south of merrick road. We live south of sunrise but north of merrick road. We do get flooding in our basement, but only in late winter, early spring, and it is really because our house was built on a stream. There's no flooding on streets unless a storm drain is clogged. We live close enough to everything on the south shore (beach, boat ramps, etc), but far enough away that we don't have to deal with flooded streets! If you don't want to deal with that, you may want to go North of Merrick Rd.

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I'm on the South Shore but I am north of Merrick Road. We've never had a drop of water in our basement and no flooding to report either.

If you're looking for waterfront, thats the price you pay. And its no different on the North Shore. My aunt is in Bayville and shes constantly flooded in.

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My parents live in south seaford and have for the past 26 years. Our house has never been flooded and we live on a canal. It all depends on the house you choose. This week the water was up higher then normal because of the storm this past week. It is something to be aware of when buying south of merrick road but I wouldn't say don't buy down there.

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Re: South Shore homes and Flooding

We didn't buy south of merrick rd because we rented for 6 months and saw some scary stuff. I'm glad we did that because before we rented we really thought we wanted to live near the water. Now we live in seaford, north of sunrise hwy. We've only been here since May but we haven't had any problems with water and the neighbors told us they haven't had issues with flooding.

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Hmmmnn...I live in Massapequa and know lots of people with flooding issues. Someone was showing me in their basement how high the flooding went and it was literally 5 feet high. Some of it has to do with the structural issues & the foundation more than being (literally) right on the water or within a few blocks. What I mean is, not every house near the water will flood but some are made to better withstand than others. Honestly, I see many newer houses go in, built by contractors prior to being sold and I cannot help but feel like many of these houses will be subject to flooding. Again, not saying all but that seems to be the category of newer houses that flood. I would make sure I found a good home inspector with a lot of experience in the area if you are sure you want to buy in these areas. Tons of people live there so not everyone is having issues. I am curious what house on Nearwater you looked at bc there is one that has been on the market for a VERY long time for what I consider below market value for the area and there's no way the house is sitting as long as it has without having issues (IMO). You can FM if you want to share but don't want to do it publicly.

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I'm on the south shore of Nassau, south of Merrick Road, and I have never had any issues at all with flooding. I think it really depends on the neighborhood and the home.

I am not, however, directly on the water.

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do not move near the water! my dad has continual flooding problems, his cars take a beating from the salt water , full moon, hightide, water everywhere I constantly tell him to move, Idon't know how ppl can live like that. stay faaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr away

my mom lives in Massapequa and has water in the basement way too often

we are moving to plaivnview / OB area bc I dont' want to be anywhere near water.

Message edited 11/14/2010 7:41:33 AM.

Re: South Shore homes and Flooding

it must depend where. I live in Seaford for 2 years and neither my house nor street ever flooded (Island Channel Road - on canal) - and that was during Hurricane Floyd too!

the North shore is not immune to flooding. Every big storm I see Halesite (North Huntington) flooded. and when we weere house hunting, we saw lawns flooded in N Greenlawn.

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Thanks for all the replies ladies!!
My DH said to ask the realtor, I told him I know where I could get honest opinions..what a wealth of knowledge between us all!
It doesn't seem like the properties are flooding, just the streets..which is also a PITA. I live in Whitestone less than 300 feet away from water..never a single DROP in my basement or street. EVER!
But I've lived in the middle of town,no water in sight & I've needed a canoe in the basement!

I'm still lovin' the South Shore

Message edited 11/14/2010 9:58:11 AM.