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Hurricane Bill Couldn't Keep Boards, Blaine Out of the Water
By
Billy Parker
Published Aug 24, 2009
Modified Aug 24, 2009
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By
Billy Parker
Published Aug 24, 2009
Modified Aug 24, 2009
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Hurricane Bill washed out one of the last weekends of the summer for most beachgoers after state parks officials closed down most beaches due to the dangerous conditions brought on by effects of the storm. But when surfers got wind of the fact that sea was foaming like a bottle of beer, they simply told the State Parks Department, "The waves are comin', but we ain't got no fear." Officials said that 2,000 surfers, some from as far as California, showed up at Montauk—the most ever counted out there. And one Long Beach manager told Newsday, "You're supposed to have a pass. The surfers refuse to come out of the water when they're waved in to check their beach passes."
The surfers all got by unscathed despite the dangerous conditions, but the not all swimmers could handle the tides on their own. The Post talks to a lifeguard in the Hamptons who had to go into the water to help pull out illusionist David Blaine and some of his friends. The lifeguard said, "They were warned not to go in because of the hurricane surf conditions,. It looked like they needed help. It looked like they got sucked out and one of them was panicking." Blaine and his friends were apparently joking that the lifeguards certainly "earned their pay" today once they were safe on the sand, likely scoffing at the rescuers that he once lived inside a bubble for an entire week—arguably his entire life.
And in Coney Island, cops had to grab a 72-year-old man who dared to head in the water and then began struggling. One of the rescuing officers told the News, "We could see the waves crashing behind him. They were the strongest I've ever seen. They knocked me down. He was disoriented and bleeding from his leg. All I was thinking was, 'I have to save him.' It was a little scary."
Officials said that Jones Beach suffered the worst flooding since Hurricane Gloria in 1985 and may keep the golf course out there closed for the rest of the season. City beaches remain closed as Bill continues to pass.
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coney island
david blaine
hurricane bill
hurricane gloria
jones beach
lifeguards
Montauk
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