The wild weather of mid-to-late summer can be as harsh as it is unpredictable. A warm, sunny day can easily turn into a near-tornado of cataclysmic proportions before the lawn chairs can be taken in and the outdoor furniture can be covered. Smithtown, Brookhaven, and Islip are no strangers to these quickly-formed storms, as Ronkonkoma saw a tornado barrel down Portion Road in August of 2019, and Manorville saw an EF-0 twister later that season.
Although the last couple weeks has not seen quite as severe storms as summers’ passed, Ronkonkoma has seen some heavy thunderstorms and torrential rain that develops swiftly and moves even faster.
Lake Ronkonkoma itself was no exception at the beginning of the month, as a sailor was caught in a flash storm, who required the help of not only the local fire department, but also a local man who was properly equipped to give immediate assistance.
Leif Easterson of Ronkonkoma sat down with The Messenger to discuss the unusual event in which the Lakeland Fire Department approached him for assistance to help a sailor who became stranded in the Lake during the wild storm.
“I was just in my backyard at the time and I had these firemen come up asking if I could help save someone in the water,” Easterson said.
Easterson, an avid sailor himself, described the origin of the incident:
“It was the typical flash storm, it was beautiful and sunny with some chance of thunderstorms, but in a moment’s notice the sky turned gray and we had a pretty bad storm rolling in. The sailor on the Lake was riding a skip sailboat, which is basically a row boat with a sail, and he got caught in the high winds and the mast came down.”
Easterson said that patrons at Parsnip’s Pub on Lake Shore Road saw the incident unfold real-time and called emergency services.
However, as firemen got to the boat ramp, they petitioned Easterson for use of his own boat to save the stranded sailor. Easterson’s house is unique as it is only one of three houses to have private boat access to Lake Ronkonkoma.
“I don’t know why they didn’t have a boat of their own, maybe it had to do with the rebuilding of Station No.1 on Johnson Avenue, these guys came from Station No.2 on Motor Parkway. Either way, I was glad to help, it was just unusual,” said Easterson. “They saw my pontoon boat tied up and asked if I could take them out to the sailor, so I got the boat ready and set out onto the Lake with them during the thunderstorm. At this point, it wasn’t super windy but there were still some gusts, as well as lightning and the occasional thunder.”
Easterson also highlighted the potential danger to himself and the firemen due to their situation: “If there’s one place you don’t want to be, it’s on an aluminum boat on a lake during a thunderstorm.”
Easterson further documented the rescue with descriptions of the sailor and his doomed vessel:
“When we got to him, the whole boat was swamped with water, we saw the sailor, we threw him a line, and brought him in,” he said. “He was definitely a little shaken up, but we were talking to him as we rode back to the boat ramp and he seemed fine, no signs of hypothermia or concussion. I believe he declined further care once we got him to shore.”
Easterson also said that it’s not his first time rescuing people from Lake Ronkonkoma and that other situations have been worse.
“Thankfully, it was summer and the water wasn’t too cold. If this was a winter rescue, he most likely would have been hypothermic by the time we got to him. And in a situation like this, you have to act quick because you never know exactly what happened out on the water. The mast could have fallen on him and he could have suffered head trauma or severe bleeding. You always have to expect the worst.”
Easterson described another rescue on the Lake in which he was involved earlier this year, when two younger sailors had their rubber raft take a puncture. This emergency occurred during the winter, and Easterson said the young men were so cold that they could barely speak.
Easterson also reflected on a time when an ice boat fell through on an early morning.
“I used to work in the city, but in the mornings I would sometimes go out and ice skate on the Lake. I see this ice boat falling through the ice, so I put my skates on and skated out to him to help. It wasn’t a tragedy, he was fine, but all I could think of was if his seat belt was stuck and he was trapped in the boat as it fell through the ice. After I made sure he was fine, I skated back home to catch my train to work.”
Easterson was invited to the Lakeland Fire Department’s station on Motor Parkway for breakfast the morning after the rescue just two weeks ago.
Easterson has lived in Ronkonkoma since 1987 and has lived in his current house since 1991. He worked for CitiGroup from 1993-2017, a job which allowed him to live in England for three years while he was CFO of their Europe and Mid-Africa division.
Now, as Easterson works from home doing analytics for startup companies, he has more time to himself and more to time rescue endangered sailors on the famous Lake.
Easterson also has ties to Lake Ronkonkoma as he was circumstantially involved in Maria Capp’s thriller The Legend of Lake Ronkonkoma: The Lady of the Lake, which is currently in post-production. Easterson’s house was used as a set, but when an actor didn’t arrive in time to play a recovery scuba diver, Easterson was sized up for the diving suit and earned himself an IMDb credit opposite The Walking Dead’s Seth Gilliam.
A true Lake Ronkonkoma man, Easterson clearly has tendencies to rescue Lake-goers on and off the screen, but more so in reality. Easterson said that to remember this occasion, he will put a sticker of a sailboat on his aluminum pontoon boat. The Messenger commends his selflessness, resourcefulness, and cooperation, as well as the Lakeland Fire Department for their heroic efforts as well.
