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Dog Swept Away By Floodwaters Found Dead On Long Island

WEST BABYLON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The search for a 120-pound dog that was swept away by floodwaters in West Babylon during the height of Wednesday's historic storm has come to a tragic end.

Dog Swept Away By Floodwaters Found Dead On Long Island

The body of the 6-year-old Russian terrier named Yuri was found Thursday morning where the Carlls River meets the Great South Bay in Babylon --  about two miles away from where the dog disappeared.

"A kayaker found him this morning and then a man took us out on his boat and we brought him in," Yuri's owner John Kelly told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera. "We took him right to the vet and quickly made private cremation."

Yuri's owners are grateful for the outpouring of support they received as they searched for their beloved pet.

"When we were walking around midnight people in the street were giving us thumbs up and everybody was saying they were looking," Kelly said.

A Facebook page dedicated to reuniting lost pets with their families said their notice about Yuri was viewed nearly 60,000 times within hours of its posting.

Kelly's wife, Kristen, said Yuri loved the bay and she hopes he didn't suffer.

"I knew that would sort of be the place that he would've wanted to be found because we walk by there every night," she said. "I miss him terribly. He's been my heart and soul for the past six years."

More than 13 inches of rain fell in some parts of Long Island on Wednesday morning.

Suffolk County and the towns of Islip and Brookhaven have declared states of emergency after what County Executive Steve Bellone called an "unprecedented" deluge.

One person was killed when a tractor-trailer hit his slow-moving SUV at the height of the storm on the Long Island Expressway.

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