Nor'easter hits Rockville Centre

Schools were closed on Thursday in Rockville Centre after a powerful nor'easter whipped across Nassau County, dumping 3 to 6 inches of snow on the South Shore and 4 to 8 on the North Shore. The snow, at times, mixed with light rain, leaving a thin sheen of ice atop the white stuff. The conditions caused the Rockville Centre School District to close buildings and cancel all activities as well, though the effects of the storm were minor.

On Wednesday night, the storm caused a minor power outage that affected 12 homes, according to village officials. The outage lasted approximately one hour and took place in the vicinity of Harvard Avenue and Norcross Street.

The village's sanitation department worked hard, not only clearing the streets, but also continuing to collect garbage and recycling  Thursday, according to village communications director Julie Grilli-Scully. The special meeting of the Village Board is still scheduled for 6 p.m. via Zoom, she confirmed.

"I would like to thank all our village employees for their tireless efforts on behalf of our residents and businesses," Mayor Francis X. Murray said. "Many of our employees worked throughout the night and day to prepare for the storm and continued to work during and after the event. Their dedication and professionalism is what makes our village great.

"Our DPW has been working nonstop to ensure the safety of our roadways," he continued. "They are responsible for plowing 53 miles of roads, 30 parking fields and all village owned sidewalks. I would like to thank our workers at the Department of Public Works, Office of Emergency Management, Electric Department, and Water Department for their outstanding response.  I would also like to thank our volunteer Fire Department who stayed on call for countless hours to answer the needs of our residents, as well as our Police Department."

In addition to the public schools, St. Agnes Cathedral School closed due to the inclement weather, and the Rockville Centre Public Library is closed today also.

"It is 100 percent a snow day," Cecilia St. John, principal of St. Agnes School posted on the school's website. "Enjoy the snow!"

Road conditions were better on main thoroughfares, worse on side streets.

As of 8 a.m. Thursday, snow still appeared to be falling lightly, and wind gusts remained strong.

The Long Island Rail Road was running behind schedule.

PSEG-LI reported that about 3,300 Long Islanders lost power overnight, with 150 outages on Thursday morning.