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WineEastNews as they could in an attempt to minimize the impact of the flooding, but the force of the surge was too great. Barrels and other equipment were toppled over, and without power, the winery had no temperature or humidity control. Those interested in helping in the effort to clean up and rebuild the winery and other businesses damaged by Hurricane Sandy in Red Hook can contact The Red Hook Initiative, phone number at (718) 858-6782, which will match volunteers and donations with local businesses in need. Wineries on Long Island and in New Jersey reported that Hurricane Sandy de- livered more wind than rain and, for most wineries, the storm caused nothing near the havoc of her predecessor Hurricane Irene, which hit in late August 2011. De- spite flooding from Sandy in New York City and power outages to at least 8.1 million people, Palmer Vine- yards in Riverhead, N.Y., was relatively un- scathed. Stock in the winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keywords "how prepared." "Thank heavens it happened when everything got picked." WINEMAKER MIGUEL MARTIN, PALMER VINEYARDS Waterloo_Nov10.qxp 8/26/10 11:36 AM Page 1 cellar had been moved above 2011 flood levels, and outside furniture was moved inside or otherwise secured. "We never lost our power connection," Miguel Martin, winemaker at Palmer Vineyards, told Wines & Vines. "The wind did more damage than the rain, to be honest." Touring his vineyards after the storm had swept past, Martin said there were downed trees on roads, but the 60-acre vineyard was in relatively good shape. "Thank heavens it happened when everything got picked. If this happened in September…" Martin said, his voice trailing off. Jack Tomasello of Tomasello Winery in Hammonton, N.J., in the Outer Coastal Plain AVA, 35 miles inland from Atlantic City, told Wines & Vines, "This storm did a lot of damage to the outer bank, a lot of coastal flooding. But most of the wineries are inland in New Jersey, and there was very little damage to them." Barring any extensive property damage, Tomasello said the main hit that wineries will face is from lower productivity and lost sales. Even wineries hundreds of miles from the hurricane's center felt its effects. Kay Stamp, retail specialist at Lakewood Vineyards in the Finger Lakes, noted that the biggest impact of the storm was on the tasting room traffic. "Our tourists come primarily from New Jersey and around New York City. With Hurricane Sandy, the tourists left early Sunday to go home and prepare for the storm, so our Sunday sales were dead." —Linda Jones McKee and Peter Mitham 60 WINES & VINES DECEMBER 2012