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Dunkirk's $4 million retaining wall damaged in Sunday storm

In Dunkirk, windy conditions were so bad Sunday that police issued a travel advisory. 2 On Your Side went out Monday to check on the damages.

DUNKIRK, N.Y. — The stone caps topping the retaining wall in Dunkirk, which runs the length of Lake Front Boulevard, each weigh about a ton. That's according to the Dunkirk's Director of Public Works, Randy Woodbury.

Monday morning, Woodbury confirmed that several of the caps had shifted in Sunday's storm. Some are now as much as a foot out of place.

Woodbury said the size and force of the waves knocked the caps out of place.

"It actually snapped some ribar that held them in," Woodbury said. "I've never seen the lake be so high in that particular place."

2 On Your Side checked it out:

Dunkirk Police posted pictures on their Facebook page Sunday, showing how high the water was along Lake Front Boulevard during the storm.

Woodbury showed 2 On Your Side data on the speed and direction of the wind hitting Dunkirk from 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. Sunday. He said a travel advisory went out in the afternoon after sustained winds jumped from 10 mph to 40 miles per hour.

"Our crews were here within minutes," Woodbury said. "It took us a while to put the barricades up, but we kept the people off (the Dunkirk Pier). The problem is the wind shifted. When it came from the Northeast, it pushed all of Lake Erie onto this pier and onto our wall."

Day-after assessments showed that the Dunkirk Pier escaped relatively unscathed. Cleared of debris, it was a popular spot Monday afternoon for residents out fishing and just enjoying the sunshine.

"Our DPW director really brought out the crews and he handled it really professionally," said Mayor Wilfred Rosas of the city's emergency response. "And I have to give credit to him and his team as well as the rest of our police and fire."

Rosas and Woodbury said they're relieved that no one was hurt as a result of Sunday's weather, although they did have a scare.

"We had one kayaker that thought this was going to be a crazy time to kayak," Woodbury said. "It took the police and fire department two times to get him off the water. We would not have been able to save him. It would have been a terrible thing."

During the storm, DPW consulted with the contractors who built the Lakefront Boulevard wall. From those conversations, Woodbury believes shifting the stone wall caps back and welding them into place will be an easy fix. It's not clear how long that might take and how the damaged wall will fare against rough weather in the forecast.

In terms of repair costs, city officials believe that emergency funds will cover the damages. 

Not all the damage sustained in the windy weather Sunday was along the shoreline. DPW reports there were a number of damaged trees throughout the city. Crews responded to remove branches and downed trees Monday.

Related: Travel advisory lifted in City of Dunkirk

Related: Municipalities assess damage from Sunday's high winds

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