A Long Island swimmer vanished off Robert Moses State Park as 18-foot waves pounded the shoreline during a deadly nor’easter battering the New York City region.
New York State Police said the unidentified man was spotted in the ocean near Field 3, at the western end of Fire Island, at about 2:30 p.m. He soon disappeared from sight and did not return to shore.
Authorities launched a search for the swimmer, described as a white male wearing dark-colored shorts.
Police have not released further details, but asked the public to contact them if they know of anyone who was in the area and cannot be located.
The search was suspended Saturday evening because of darkness and was expected to resume Sunday, according to News12.
A hazardous-water advisory was issued for the popular Fire Island park Saturday afternoon as the storm continued to batter the East Coast.
The National Weather Service said waves averaged 18 feet, while sea levels were estimated at 15 to 20 feet. Swells reached 25 feet at times.
Sustained winds ranged from 35 to 45 mph, with gusts topping 60 mph.
Long Island, New York City and parts of New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut and Massachusetts were under storm and coastal flood warnings.
About an hour after the Long Island swimmer disappeared, officials reported the first confirmed death linked to the late-September storm.
Leighton Brown, a 56-year-old NYCHA worker, was killed by a falling tree at the Cypress Hills Houses in Brooklyn.
Brown sustained “trauma throughout his body” when powerful winds brought down the tree near 700 Euclid Avenue in East New York at approximately 3:30 p.m.
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Follow live updates on the powerful nor’easter set to bring dangerous winds, flooding to the East Coast
He was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead shortly after 5 p.m.
“My thoughts are with his entire family as they deal with this unimaginable loss. May he rest in peace, and may his service to our city never be forgotten,” NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on X while announcing Brown’s death.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for the state’s lower counties and urged residents to stay out of the water, including avoiding swimming, surfing and boating.
“Extremely dangerous rip currents and high surf make entering the ocean life-threatening. Stay off rock jetties and beaches where sudden high waves can sweep you into the water,” the declaration warned.
The state of emergency took effect Sunday, as the storm’s worst conditions were expected to continue through Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service said an upper-level vortex was expected to merge with the powerful cyclone several hundred miles off New York City, driving the storm’s center toward New Jersey and Long Island overnight.
That merger was expected to send the nor’easter’s full force across coastal southern New England and the northern Mid-Atlantic on Sunday morning.
Long Island remains under a High Wind Warning as gusts have already taken down trees and branches across the island and knocked out electricity.
Nearly 17,000 customers in Suffolk County were without power, while 2,000 were in the dark in Nassau as of 4 a.m. Sunday, according to tracker PowerOutage.com.
