Post by scannerman5555 on Sept 18, 2004 22:06:12 GMT -5
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Water, water everywhere
Floodwaters in Huntington (Photo by Michael Josh DSolo)
Sep 18, 2004
BY SUMATHI REDDY
Staff Writer
Cars wading through New York Avenue in Huntington. Lakes forming on scattered streets. And power outages striking more than 48,000 customers.
The remnants of Hurricane Ivan rippled through Long Island yesterday, colliding with a cold front and leaving behind drenched lawns and a slew of fallen trees and branches.
Rainfall totals ranged from nearly half an inch of rain in Shirley to nearly 3 inches in Centerport, according to the National Weather Service. The rain coupled with gusty winds that peaked at 35-45 mph left some areas a treacherous mess.
Police reported numerous minor accidents and closed several streets while the Coast Guard responded to several distressed boats overcome by gusty winds and a large squall. There were no injuries reported.
All state golf courses and several state parks and trails were closed. The campgrounds in Hither Hills State Park in Montauk flooded and were being pumped out yesterday.
In Nassau, more than a dozen trees littered streets, rooftops and in at least one case a car. Heavy flooding on Hempstead Turnpike and Merritts Road in Farmingdale trapped several cars under an overpass.
In Suffolk, police reported moderate to serious flooding and several closed roads, many in the Farmingdale and Melville areas. Cars on New York Avenue in Halesite in Huntington faced water that rose several feet, forcing police to close the stretch from Spring Road to the harbor.
The rain left some, like Denise Weiss of Melville, trapped in her home.
Weiss, 52, had a morning doctor's appointment for an earache, but when she looked outside of her Cabriolet Lane home, there was about 3 feet of standing water. The water spilled onto her driveway and lawn, so her daughter picked her up on the corner.
"I couldn't even get out," Weiss said about her car, and added that she's contemplating legal action against the town because the flooding is a persistent problem. "I had to walk through the flood to Round Swamp Road. I had boots on. I was soaking wet. I slipped on the road walking down because all the grass was flooded. I was a mess."
Weiss wasn't the only one inconvenienced. Nearly 49,000 Long Island Power Authority customers lost power. LIPA beefed up crews and most residents had power restored within a few hours, said authority spokeswoman Linda Schwantner.
Businesses were inconvenienced, too.
DePalo and Sons Auto Body shop on New York Avenue in Halesite had a "good four feet" of water outside.
"It's very bad," said Michael DePalo, one of the owners. "It's the worst I've ever seen it."
The road was shut in the morning and the water was just starting to recede in the afternoon. "It affects the business badly," DePalo said. "It really hurts."
Though the rain canceled or postponed several state park events, it was counted as a blessing at one -- The Fall Fishing Classic tournament in Montauk.
"Because of the storm, they have had some very big-time fishing going on down there," said George Gorman, a state parks spokesman. "The fishermen are coming in right and left with fish."
Staff writers Theresa Vargas and Alfonso A. Castillo contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.