By Mike Busch 10-14-19
Tropical Storm Melissa gave the south shore beaches a beating and made the situation at Bellport Beach much worse. The Bellport Pavilion and walkway had already been compromised but for the first time the main structure appears to leaning forward and to the right. The new stairs that provided access down to the beach from the walkway have been ripped out and the walkway feels more like a fishing pier. The end of the walkway has also collapsed and the end of the structure is moving and making weird sounds when waves pass underneath. It is hard to fathom how much beach has been lost considering the pavilion was built behind the primary dune in 2015.
New Pavillion 2015 | Credit L.I. Advance Nicole Allegrezza
Almost every bit of land in the photos below from February 2017 has now been lost to the Ocean.
February 2017
Bellport Village officials have been considering several different proposals to either move the structure back or completely take it down. One of the options was to move it back to an area near the old burma road at the base of the current walkway. However, that would be too close now as that is the new high tide line.
Fire Island and Beyond has built up a big library of content on what has been happening at Bellport Beach, click here to see how this has evolved over time.
I have to assume the damage took place at high tide Friday night because the stairs were still intact late Friday afternoon as you can see in the photo from Smith Point.
The photos and videos were all taken on Sunday, October 13th. Aerial Photos are on pages 5 and 6.
