Power outage led to early dismissal at EMHS

One wrong step by a squirrel put East Meadow High School knocked the power out for nearly three hours last Friday.

According to Mark Gross, a spokesman for the Long Island Power Authority, LIPA received a call for the outage at EMHS at about 10:45 a.m.

“Upon inspection of the site it was determined that a squirrel made contact with a primary wire which resulted in a blown fuse,” Gross said. 

The Fire Department was called shortly after 11 a.m. to assess conditions and determine if the area was safe. 

“We wanted then to come in and check out the downstairs to make sure it was OK,” said Louis DeAngelo, superintendent of schools. “They said things were perfectly fine.”

Students remained in their classrooms throughout the outage. According to DeAngelo, there was minimal lighting, and some areas of the building were dark and cold. 

DeAngelo said that parents were called at about 12:10 p.m., and students were dismissed early, at about 12:30 p.m. The superintendent complimented the EMHS faculty and staff for their cooperation, as well as the bulk of the 1,700 students who were sent home earlier than usual. 

“Dismissal was handled very well,” DeAngelo said. “It all went smooth.”

Power was restored shortly before 1:30 p.m. LIPA said that no other customers in the area were affected by the blown fuse.