From the archives: Storm deals some hard knocks on LI

This story was originally published in Newsday on March 6, 2008

High winds early yesterday left thousands without power, downed numerous trees and caused collapse of house under construction

High winds wreaked havoc across Long Island in the wee hours of yesterday morning as a storm rolled through the region, with trees falling on homes and cars, thousands of power outages, and the collapse of a house under construction in East Rockaway, according to local officials.

Though the National Weather Service recorded winds of up to 60 mph in Long Beach and 44 mph in Montauk, there were no reported injuries, police said.

But property damage was evident throughout the area, including trees falling on at least two cars on South Windsor Road in Bay Shore.

A house under construction at 300 Main St. in East Rockaway collapsed yesterday morning during high winds, a neighbor said.

"We heard it around 4:15 a.m. in the morning - a very loud boom, and my house shook," said Elise Blankstein, 44, who lives next door to the construction site.

There was no damage to her home, she said.

Workers had built the frames of the house and the roof on Monday, and intended to build the sheathing to protect the frame yesterday, said a construction foreman at the East Rockaway site who declined to give his name.

Yesterday afternoon, the roof was sitting on the foundation and the house frame was in pieces around the yard.

"We knew there was rain coming in, but we had no idea," said the foreman, as he watched several workers tearing the frame apart by hand.

Officials from East Rockaway and Nassau County said there were no violations in leaving the house frame unsheathed.

"The wind got underneath the structure and pulled the structure up and then down," said East Rockaway Building Department superintendent Dennis McCabe. He added, "I don't think they did anything wrong."

The village will require the frame to be rebuilt with new materials.

By 4:30 p.m. yesterday, about 3,063 customers remained without power, according to the Long Island Power Authority, and there were flight delays of more than an hour at LaGuardia and Newark airports.

And spring's tumultuous preview is not finished - meteorologist Jim Connolly of the National Weather Service said Friday night could bring another round of heavy rain and wind.