Irene Turns Cedar Beach Into Cedar Finger Lakes

Visitors to Cedar Beach Tuesday were warned:  If you wanted to reach the actual beach that was left you had to wade knee deep in an ocean lake that spanned most of the very long beach area between the walkway and the shoreline.

But given it was the only town beach open due to no running water (i.e. toilets) at Gilgo or Robert Moses, true beach lovers braved the trek, walking right by the dozens of volleyball nets and poles bent and ripped apart. The large lake, and a sister lake nestled behind what little dunes were left, created some unique play areas for the younger crowd.

Town lifeguards shoveled through the day to create a channel to start helping the lake areas filter back to the ocean and finally brought in the big gun, a bull dozer, to start the action as the tide went out.