West Haven beach ‘blown out’ by Ida rainfall.

WEST HAVEN — Parts of the city’s beach were “blown out” in the rainstorm caused by Hurricane Ida remnants, according to the city’s commissioner of public works.

Tom McCarthy, commissioner of public works, said the rain left an estimated 40-foot-wide and eight-foot-deep “gouge through the beach” near Lake Street off Ocean Avenue overnight, and that crews worked overnight to tow vehicles — some that had been driven into flooded underpasses and others that floated away while parked in parking lots before coming to a stop on the Boston Post Road.

“It’s a trying day right now,” he said Thursday. “Many homes flooded, my own included.”

McCarthy said the city had been anticipating flooding and officials were monitoring the situation. Despite that, McCarthy said there was a lot of damage to assess. He said the National Guard was flying over Lake Street to assess damage to Lake Street Thursday.

“Obviously some things we know have to be fixed immediately, but right now we are still assessing damage,” he said.

West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi said she expects the city to apply for “every dollar” available in relief funds after Gov. Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency.

“I know there were a lot of homes that were severely flooded, like up the steps of their basements and some all the way up the steps,” she said.

“There was a huge amount of water in a very short period of time.”

Rossi said she believes it will take a lot of effort to address the damage to the beach near Lake Street.

“It was just amazing to think that water could do this type of damage so quickly,” she said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Damage to a West Haven beach Thursday.