Town, Residents Dig Out From Winter Storm

Workers battle against heavy snow to keep the sidewalks of Cold Spring Harbor clear this afternoon. Long Islander News photo/Connor Beach

By Long Islander News staff
info@longislandergroup.com

“We’re throwing everything we have at it.”

Kevin Orelli’s fourth day as Town of Huntington Highway Superintendent has been a busy one. “We have trucks all over town trying to get different roads open.”

Orelli, as did residents across town, woke up this morning to several inches of snow and strong winds caused by Winter Storm Grayson, a rare “bomb cyclone,” as it’s been described by weather experts.

Reached by telephone at 11 a.m., Orelli said members of his department, along with contractors, had been out plowing since the early hours of the morning.

Plowers haven’t prioritized any parts of town over others, but have had difficulty keeping up with areas where large amounts of snow fell, he added.

Over a foot of snow fell in both Commack and South Huntington, while wind gusts in East Northport and Eatons Neck maxed out at 41 miles per hour and 61 miles per hour respectively, according to National Weather Service. It appeared around 8 inches of snow fell in Huntington.

Orelli, who spent much of the day driving Huntington’s roads, including with Supervisor Chad Lupinacci, said the roads were “still terrible” just before noon.

Reached again at 4:30 p.m., he said additional heavy equipment from outside contractors had been requested to assist cleanup efforts.

A plow clears snow in Huntington Rite Aide parking lot this morning. Long Islander News photo/Connor Beach

“We still have got a lot of work in front of us,” Orelli said. “We are still going to be plowing tomorrow and probably into tomorrow night.” He added that the department is aware of calls reporting streets that have not been cleared.

As of 4:15 p.m., Suffolk police said there had been around 70 motor vehicle crashes across Suffolk, but none of them resulted in serious injuries.

As for Lupinacci, the new supervisor made several stops around town, including at Huntington Highway Department headquarters in Huntington, and the state’s rest stop along the Long Island Expressway in Dix Hills, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo briefed members of the media this afternoon.

“I’ve been on the road for many hours today with Superintendent Orelli,” Lupinacci said, adding that the pair relayed information regarding conditions to both county and state officials.

Lupinacci, members of the town board and Orelli met with Cuomo and Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone in person, he said.

After a full day in the storm, Lupinacci had some advice for Huntington residents: “Stay off the roads so the crews can clear and clean them; keep and eye on your family members or elderly neighbors; and tomorrow shovel out fire hydrants if you can.”

For updates on the status of town offices and activities for Friday, Lupinacci urged residents to keep up with the town’s website (Huntingtonny.gov), Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Fire departments report downed power lines, slippery roads

Members of local fire departments are urging residents to take extra precaution when stepping outside into the “bomb cyclone.”

Michael Colonna, second lieutenant of the Huntington Manor Fire Department, said the department has had crews on standby since the morning, awaiting emergency calls.

As of 4 p.m., the department received around eight emergency calls, including for downed power lines, water leaks from frozen pipes over electrical utilities in homes and automatic alarms, Michael Colonna said.

He added that the department has been working with Suffolk police and Huntington town officials, notifying them of any roads that need to be cleared.

Larry Feld, chairman of the Dix Hills board of fire commissioners, urged residents to be careful and to stay off the roads until they’re cleared.

“Currently, we have standby crews at each of our firehouses, where our engines are manned and our ambulances are manned,” Feld said. “We also have our district employees that follow us to calls in case the roads need to be plowed.”

Feld said that, as of 4 p.m. today, the department received four emergency calls, two ambulance requests and two structural fire reports.

He also asked residents to ensure that fire hydrants buried by snow in front of their homes were cleared. “That’s very important,” he said.

Feld continued, “It’s time consuming. If the hydrants are not cleared and there’s a house that’s fully involved, we’re going to need more water.”

Feld said that officials expect the storm to clear of the area by 1 a.m., tomorrow, but that the department will keep fire and rescue crews available as long as requested by chiefs.

Greg Colonna, chief of the Halesite Fire Department, said the storm created slippery conditions on roads, and urged residents to use caution when either walking outside or driving.

“The side roads are spoty -- they’re not as clean as you would see on the main roads,” Greg Colonna said. “Be weary of what’s going on underneath the snow. There’s a lot of wind that came around with the storm, so there could be branches and other things underneath it that we don’t see and could impact driving ability.”

A 10-member house crew has manned the Halesite Firehouse during the storm, he added. They’ve also been patrolling roads, checking for blockages created by the storm.

The department, as of 4 p.m., received four calls, two ambulance requests and two miscellaneous fire calls, Greg Colonna said. He added that there were no reported car accidents.

Village Mayors: residents face power outages, flooding

Village leaders across town similarly reported tough conditions caused by the storm.

Northport Village Mayor George Doll declared a snow emergency through 7 p.m.

He requested residents to avoid traveling on village roads so that efforts to remove snow were eased. In addition, he urged village residents to park their vehicles in their driveways.

Village of Huntington Bay Mayor Herb Morrow said at 5 p.m. there were no reported accidents in the village, but that there were two power outages -- both were restored quickly, he said.

Morrow added that there was some flooding on Bay Road and East Shore Road as the tide came in and the winds swept the waters over the seawalls.

Inches of snow pile up outside Huntington Bay Village Hall this morning. Photo/Herb Morrow

“Most residents heeded the advice and stayed home. We checked on every home where an individual lives alone especially our Senior citizens,” Morrow said. “Extra police will be on duty throughout tonight, and our snow crews will continue to work overnight clearing and addressing icing conditions.”

High tide has been predicted for just after 12 midnight tonight, and Village of Asharoken Mayor Greg Letica has been in touch with Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci regarding potential coastal flooding.

Letica said around 3 p.m., that, other than one power outage, there was nothing serious to report.

He did say main concerns were with strong winds and snow drifts.

After a preliminary check, Letica added, “The seawall seems to be doing fine at this time.”

He added that, for the village, it’s really “just another snow storm.”