Lynbrook, East Rockaway prepared for snowstorm

Town of Hempstead supervisor urges people to stay home

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All of Long Island is now under a Blizzard Watch from late Monday, March 13, into Wednesday, March 15.

National Weather Service forecasters are predicting 12 to 18 inches of snow and high winds for Nassau County as a powerful nor’easter sweeps into the area. If predictions hold true, the storm could become one of the biggest March snowstorms in recorded history.

Snow is expected to start to fall late Monday night into early Tuesday morning. The period of greatest impact will likely be Tuesday, beginning with the morning commute and lasting through the evening, forecasters say.

On Monday, the villages of Lynbrook and East Rockaway were busily preparing for the storm.

Lynbrook Mayor Bill Hendrick said that the Department of Public Works was preparing to send out 20 plows, five salt trucks and three payloaders.

Last month’s snowstorm cost the village almost $18,000, Hendrick said, noting that he expected Tuesday’s storm to cost equal or more than that. Hendrick noted that the village has about $30,000 of their budget left to spend on this storm, and that if more money was needed, village administrators can take some from their contingency funds.

“We don’t mind spending it to keep our residents safe,” Hendrick said. He added that everyone should stay home and that the police department is also prepared to deal with any emergencies caused by the storm.

In December, Lynbrook DPW Superintendent Phil Healey told the Herald that the department typically goes through 400 to 500 tons of salt each winter.

In a statement, East Rockaway Mayor Bruno Romano also urged residents to stay home if possible, and to “prepare by stocking up food and emergency supplies.” He also cautioned that there is a potential for coastal flooding.

With the expected blizzard, the village of East Rockaway suspended its sanitation and recycling collection for Tuesday.

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Anthony Santino also urged residents to stay home during the storm.

“This appears to be the big one. This will be the one where we really need folks to plan tomorrow to take the day off,” Santino said at a news conference in Point Lookout on Monday, not far from where an Army Corps of Engineers is now working on a coastal protection project for the barrier island.

“This is going to be a very involved snowstorm. We expect significant coastal flooding, we expect very high wind conditions, and we expect a foot or more possibly of snow.

"The most important thing folks can do tomorrow is stay home,” he emphasized. “This is going to be a treacherous commute tomorrow morning. We will be working all day ... to clear our streets, but it is likely that the evening commute isn’t going to be any better than the morning commute.”

A coastal flood warning is in effect through 2 p.m. Tuesday, and moderate coastal flooding is expected during periods of high tide into Tuesday afternoon.

“I don’t think we’re looking at a situation where people have to evacuate,” Santino said. “If you have a car in a low-lying area, try to find a friend or a neighbor who lives up somewhere on higher ground and get the car there. If you have a storm drain, shovel it while it snows to make sure that the water drains appropriately.”

He added that the town has 50,000 tons of rock salt on hand and that crews have been out in force since yesterday preparing roads throughout the town with snow-melting brine, and that more than 400 workers are ready to respond with about 300 pieces of equipment.

“Our crews will be out there plowing … to clear the over 1,200 miles of roadway that are in the Town of Hempstead … to make them possible as soon as we possibly can,” he said. “Our Conservation and Waterways crews will be monitoring the coastal erosion. Workers are securing boats at the town marinas …”

Santino also urged residents to prepare for the storm by stocking up on critical supplies, from flashlights and batteries to groceries and medication, on Monday.

“Cars should be removed from town roadways,” he said. “Cars on the street, in an event like this, only impede town workers that are coming through here … with rather big plows.”

He also advised residents with health conditions to avoid shoveling snow and call 911 in an emergency.

At press time, PSEG Long Island was busily preparing for the possibility of power outages. “PSEG Long Island takes storms of this forecasted magnitude seriously, and we proactively prepare and position our restoration workforce so our crews can begin work as soon as the conditions are safe,” said John O’Connell, PSEG-LI's vice president of transmission and distribution. “In addition to scheduling additional PSEG Long Island personnel and contractors to respond to outages, we have arranged for utility crews from other states to provide assistance in restoring customer outages that may result from the storm.”

PSEG-LI offered this advice to homeowners:

* Save PSEG Long Island’s 24-hour Electric Service number: (800) 490-0075.

* Follow PSEG Long Island on Facebook and Twitter for updates before, during and after the storm. Remember, though, that outages cannot be reported through Facebook.

* Downed wires should always be considered live. Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything it might be in contact with. If a wire falls on or near your car, stay inside the car, call 911 and do not get out until PSEG Long Island de-energizes the line. If you must get out of the vehicle because it is on fire, jump as far as possible away from the vehicle, with both feet landing on the ground at the same time, and hop or shuffle away.

* Make sure everyone in the family is prepared and knows what to do if there is an emergency. Visit psegliny.com/page.cfm/Home/Safety to learn about safety tips from Sesame Street and YouTube videos.

More as this story develops.