STORM COVERAGE

Hempstead Town continues snow removal

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Hempstead town crews were still digging out local roadways early Tuesday after the first major snowfall in the area this year.

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning from 1 p.m. Monday through Tuesday evening, in addition to a costal flow watch. Long Island was hit with an average of 16 inches of snow, and officials noted that the eastern areas of America’s largest township saw the highest totals.

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray has been traveling roadways throughout the township, overseeing snow removal operations along 1,200 miles of local streets. She declared a state of emergency in the region at 12 p.m. Monday, adding that it remained in effect as of 11 a.m. Tuesday.

“Our government has continued its proactive practice of having salt spreaders on the roads prior to the first sign of snow,” she said. “We followed-up by deploying our large fleet of plows and other snow removal equipment, which remain on duty on local town roadways.”

About 250 pieces of equipment were deployed to remove snow, with the process beginning at 7 a.m. Monday morning. Murray said that crews were 80 to 90 percent done with snow removal as of 11 a.m. Tuesday; once snow stops falling this afternoon, they will groom local streets once more and begin cleaning up commuter parking lots.

As snow continues to fall, Murray issued a renewed call for residents to move cars from local roads as the town’s snow removal operation continues. In a statement on the town website, she explained to residents that snowplows can do a more effective job of clearing streets curb-to-curb when vehicles are not restricting full-street access.

The supervisor did note that residents have been extremely compliant with these requests, adding that crews reported that local communities were “like ghost towns” last night because people stayed indoors. She said this has made it easier for town workers to combat the greatest challenge this storm presented – wind gusts forcing them to re-plow streets up to five times.

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