Conn. (WTNH) — The Connecticut shoreline, beautiful beaches, quaint communities, and a boating paradise. But Long Island Sound can turn mean and poses a big flood threat. To understand, let’s fly up so we can look down at the big picture

“Being in between Connecticut and the Long Island shoreline, it’s like a funnel,” explained National Weather Service Meteorologist Nelson Vaz. “You have a wide opening eastern end of Long Island Sound which allows water to come in from the ocean and the western side there’s only one outlet, the East River.”

Meteorologist Vaz says we saw the “funnel effect” with Hurricanes Sandy and Irene – minor compared to years ago!

“And in 1954 we had category three hurricanes that really devastated the coastline communities bringing double of what we saw with Sandy and Irene,” Vaz explained.

It’s important to know if you are in a flood zone and the evacuation route.

“Water is 10 times more destructive than the force of the wind. No matter your structure, elevated water with waves is a deadly combination.”

To quote Nelson, “you can hide from the wind but you have to run from the water!”