Local updates: Sandy's, nor'easter's impact on Long Island, Nov. 8

UPDATED: 7:00 P.M.

Disabled children at risk without power

For MaryEllen and Kevin Burke, electricity is a matter of life and death, said their mother, Lori Burke.

The siblings, who live in St. James and suffer from a rare brain and eye disease, depend on ventilators and other devices to eat and breathe.

So when electricity was restored Sunday night — after seven days without power — Lori and the children's father Kevin Burke, were relieved.

But the return to normalcy was short-lived: Power went out again early Thursday.

“We do have a generator, but if that fails, we’re in big trouble,” said Lori Burke, 47. “ .?.?. Then we’re in ICU.”

SEE PHOTOSSandy's impact on Long Island

MaryEllen, 25, and her 24-year-old brother cannot walk, talk or see. Their home is filled with life-supporting oxygen concentrators, ventilators, suction machines, pulse oximeters and feeding pumps that run at all times.

The family initially lost power in superstorm Sandy on Oct. 29, and for seven days needed daily deliveries of propane tanks to operate the generator. Electricity came back Sunday night, but was lost again shortly after midnight Thursday.

Lori Burke said her husband learned from LIPA that the second outage dropped them to the bottom of the utility’s waiting list. “Their answer to us is, ‘You should have been prepared,’ which is kind of ironic,” she said.

She said the children are aware something is amiss, though they cannot verbalize their emotions. Her son appears highly stressed, she said.

“I sit with them and hug them a lot of the day,” she said.

-- CARL MACGOWAN

UPDATED: 6:50 P.M.

Bay Shore woman searches for ‘friend’

Mariann Adams would like somebody to take her chili. It's hot, she advertises.

And maybe a blanket or a bag of muffins.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" she said today, stopping a woman on the street.

Adams, of Bay Shore, soldiers on by foot across one of the hardest hit parts of Lindenhurst — Atlantic Street. Federal Emergency Management Agency employees inspect homes, and police cars roll by, offering updates on where neighbors can find a hot meal. Her brother lives in Lindenhurst, so she is volunteering to help others similarly affected by superstorm Sandy.

"Did I hear socks?" Gregory Snow, 62, asked Adams. She had to cross two floating wooden planks to get to his house.

"Anyone else with you?" she asked. Just the pup, he replied .?.?. And a FEMA official.

"None for him," quipped Adams, who declined to give her age or occupation.

Because piles of debris line the streets, Adams decided to park her car at the village judge's home. She was looking for her "friend," a man she offered a coat earlier in the week. She said the man started crying when he put it on.

She asks everyone she sees about him. His home had a ramp, she said.

She's worried she won't find him.

"The houses look different now," she said, surveying the debris.

Adams' Toyota Corolla is stocked with snacks and warm-weather apparel. The chili is from a Boar's Head truck that was distributing meals to a local church. The clothes are from the church, too.

Snow is eager for some blankets. The home he built with his wife 33 years ago was hit hard by the flood — some 16 inches of rainwater. His wife died five years ago.

"I couldn't get out of the house for the first day and a half," he said.

What he fears most, he said, is "the cold."

He walks to Adams' car, and takes a blanket and the chili. Adams warns the chili might be cold by now.

But Snow shrugged, grateful for the meal. Adams said goodbye, then headed off to find her friend.

-- SCOTT EIDLER

UPDATED: 6:42 P.M.

Erosion generally not an issue on East End after nor’easter

On the erosion front, no serious new problems were reported from Wednesday's nor'easter.

Southampton Town officials say Dune Road, the biggest problem area on the South Fork, held up well, with the sand berms which had been built up after Sandy struck doing their job, even though some sand was washed away and — in spots — sand was blowing across the road.

Dune Road is now open between Westhampton Beach and Quogue, but closed to the public east of Quogue Village. People are also not permitted to drive to Shinnecock Inlet by driving over the Ponquogue Bridge.

In Southold, water from Long Island Sound crashed over the rocks at the seriously eroded area east of Goldsmith’s Inlet, but did not create significant new problems and caused no damage to County Road 48. Some homes in Southold also lost power, but those homes were restored before noon.

Riverhead suffered no significant additional damage because of Wednesday’s storm, but Police Chief David Hegermiller — in charge of town emergency services — said that any sand which came back to the town’s beaches after Sandy hit was probably washed away again.

In East Hampton, Gerard Drive in Napeague appeared to suffer additional damage from the storm Wednesday night, and town officials said an engineer had been sent out to evaluate the damage.

-- MITCHELL FREEDMAN

UPDATED: 6:33 P.M.

World War II vet, 91, finally heads to shelter

Irving Lehr looked at his wrist watch as he waited Thursday for the taxi he called to the shelter at Levittown Memorial High school.

He had been roughing it out in his home — without power and heat since Sandy — but the freezing temperatures, snow and whipping wind of Wednesday’s nor’easter convinced the 91-year-old World War II veteran to finally leave.

“I’ll take care of myself. I just need power and answers about when it will be back on,” said Lehr, who was probably going to shelter Thursday night as well.

But he had something else on his mind.

His wife of 68 years, Esther, 90, has been in Nassau Medical Center for three days and he hopes that she will be discharged soon.

He had been waiting for the cab for 15 minutes when he decided to call again to make sure the car was coming.

“It got extremely cold in the house and I was warming them dinners over a candle,” their live-in nurse Ornetta Reid said while Lehr was calling the cab company.

Reid, who has family in Rosedale, stayed the night with Lehr in the shelter. She slept in the cot beside him and folded-over four blankets to create a cushion for his cot. He has severe back problems, among other chronic medical issues.

Lehr grumbled when he hung up his cellphone. The taxi dispatcher said it would be another 15 minutes before they’d have a car to him.

“He wants her out but I keep telling him we can’t take her. We can’t take care of her in a shelter,” Reid said.

-- CANDICE FERRETTE 

Trucks of produce headed to south Nassau

Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx will send three trucks carrying 5,000 pounds of food to Hurricane Sandy victims Friday.

The trucks are scheduled to go to the Rockville Centre/Baldwin municipal parking lot off the Sunrise Highway, said a spokesman for the market. Volunteers will unload the trucks for dispersement throughout Nassau County, the spokesman said.

Trucks arrive at the parking lot at about 9:30 a.m.

 — PATRICK WHITTLE

UPDATED: 6:26 P.M.

Newsday cartoonist Walt Handelsman commentary on the back to back storms.

UPDATED 5:35 P.M.
Oyster Bay hamlet becomes staging area

Oyster Bay hamlet's downtown seemed to have lost none of its quaint charm after the nor'easter and superstorm, though there were some signs Thursday that life had been disrupted, however temporarily.

A stoplight near Town Hall blinked yellow to one road of traffic and red to the other.

The glass garage doors of Billy Joel's 20th Century Cycles shop, a sort of museum to showcase the musician's collection, had rows of sandbags stacked against them to protect against floodwaters.

And the parking lot of the Oyster Bay Long Island Rail Road station appeared to be a staging area for utility companies, though National Grid and the Long Island Power Authority were not among them.

Long utility poles were laid in piles and giant spools of wire stacked in the lot. Trucks, several with cherry pickers and one with a large drill, sat with their lights blinking, waiting to be dispatched to another storm-damaged neighborhood in need.

Town spokeswoman Marta Kane Thursday could not immediately say whether the lot was being used with town permission or what companies were using it.
-- Emily Ngo

UPDATED 5:18 P.M.
Mastic Beach woman just looking for place to sleep

Mastic Beach resident Gladys Arrington rushed to her sport utility vehicle mid-Thursday trying not to think about how superstorm Sandy and the nor’easter has drastically changed her family life in a short amount of time.

"I'm sad. At this point, I don't know what to do," said Arrington, whose home was flooded and has been without power since Sandy struck 10 days ago.

A walk inside her ranch home reveals pieces of furniture stacked on top of each other, amid the stale stench of water.

"I lost everything and I have no place to sleep," said the mother of two, who also takes care of her disabled mother.

She initially thought immediate emergency relief was on the way when FEMA approved her for a stay at a Suffolk County hotel room from Nov. 3 to Nov. 16.

But when she attempted to arrange a room, Arrington said, she was told the hotel was booked with other residents who also needed emergency housing.

Since then, she has bounced around her neighborhood living with friends who don’t mind making room for her and her children.
-- Deon J. Hampton

UPDATED 5:01 P.M.
Tough time for Lindenhurst special-needs man

It's been two weeks since DJ O'Brien has been to "program."

That's what his parents call the days he spends at a rehabilitation center in Commack. O'Brien 24, has cerebral palsy. He can't walk and he speaks just a few words.

Since Sandy hit, he's missed his regular routine. From 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., O'Brien has traveled daily on a bus from his home in Lindenhurst to the YAI Network in Commack, a "day-hab center" where his parents say he benefits from a social network and trips outside of the home. His wheelchair was destroyed during superstorm Sandy, and the one he uses — a transport one — isn't secure enough for him to ride the bus.

His mother, a special-needs teacher in New Hyde Park, said she can't risk driving him there daily, lest she chance losing gas. And the family is without Internet access, and thus unable to order one online.

His parents said a Medicaid coordinator is trying to find one for DJ, but so far she's had little luck. Any full-sized one would work, the family said.

"It's very difficult to just drive somewhere to find a wheelchair," his mother, Jennifer O'Brien, said.

The risk to his social and physical well-being escalates each day, the family said.

"He's not on his regular routine," said Jennifer O'Brien. "He's just bored, for so long."

And he's missed physical therapy lessons too, so his muscles have stiffened.

"He doesn't see his friends, his bus driver," she explained. "When he doesn't see them it's hard for him."

The family is staying at a new home Joseph O'Brien has been building for the last 14 months. It stands a few feet away from their last home, destroyed mostly from Tropical Storm Irene.

Before that storm, the trio took shelter in a 30-foot camper, but they moved it upstate before Sandy struck. Since then, the family has stayed inside the new home it is building, but it is far from finished. It's structurally sound, Joseph O'Brien said, but there are no bathrooms, and the house inside is virtually empty.

"We can only entertain him for so long," Joseph O'Brien said.
-- Scott Eidler

UPDATED 4:51 P.M.
Gas finds its way to the Rockaways

UPDATED 4:51 P.M.
Bayville transplant suffers damage, doesn’t regret move

Four Long Island Power Authority trucks were working on fallen power lines Thursday afternoon at the bottom of a Bayville hill.

At the top of the hill, Bayville Village Hall again had electricity after losing it for several hours Wednesday when the nor'easter hit.

Some homes at the village's east end were in the same boat, having lost power after superstorm Sandy and regained it only to lose it again in the nor'easter, village administrator Maria Alfano-Hardy said Thursday.

Vito Rinando, 47, a resident of Bayville's east end, suffered a power outage late Wednesday but had it back by Thursday afternoon. He said he and his family had previously gone eight days after Sandy without electricity, and evidence of the outage — strategically placed candles, flashlights and lamps — was seen around his home.

"It's been a rough ride," Rinando said. Power outage aside, the nor'easter wasn't a problem, he said.

"We didn't have any snow," he said.

Down his street, a small pond of stormwater and groundwater that formed Wednesday as it does during every storm had begun to drain and transformed into a muddy patch Thursday. Mayor Doug Watson's efforts to secure a 6-inch village water pump for such flooding were successful, Rinando said.

Rinando said his concern now was dealing with the Federal Emergency Management Administration and his insurance company and finding housing and care for his wife's aunt, who has multiple sclerosis and was living in their basement before it took on 3 feet of Sandy floodwater. She is staying at a hotel at their expense, he said.

Rinando had filled a spiral notebook detailing visits by and phone conversations with FEMA and his insurance company. He had also taken 300 photos of the flood damage to document it. They were on his laptop next to a file of photos named "Before Sandy."

Rinando and his family moved to Bayville five years ago from Queens, he said, and home decorations such as a lamp filled with seashells and a wooden sign that read "Beach" were evidence that they liked living with water on either side of them.

"If we knew then what we knew now, would we still move here? Probably yes," he mused. "I love the community here. I wouldn't trade living here for anything — other than to build a hill under my house or dig a moat around it."
-- Emily Ngo

UPDATED 4:21 P.M.
Photos display Seaford damage

UPDATED 3:50 P.M.
New FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers list

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday afternoon released an updated list of FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers open in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Nassau County

Disaster Recovery Center in Long Beach
8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Recreation Center and Ice Arena
700 Magnolia Blvd.

Disaster Recovery Center in Island Park
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Island Park Village Hall
127 Long Beach Rd.

Disaster Recovery Center in Garden City
8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Nassau County Community College
1 Education Dr.

Suffolk County

Disaster Recovery Center in Hauppauge
7 a.m.-7 p.m.
H. Lee Dennison Building
100 Veterans Memorial Hwy.

Disaster Recovery Center in Islip
9 a.m.-8 p.m.
Islip EOC
401 Main St.

Disaster Recovery Center in Mastic
9 a.m.-8 p.m.
Mastic Recreation Center
5 Herkimer St.

Disaster Recovery Center in Babylon/Lindenhurst
9 a.m.-8 a.m.
Lindenhurst Library
1 Lee Ave.

Disaster Recovery Center in Riverhead
9 a.m.-8 p.m.
Suffolk County Complex Center
300 Center Dr.
-- Newsday Staff

UPDATED 3:35 P.M.
Donations still being doled out in Town of Oyster Bay

The Town of Oyster Bay announced in a Thursday afternoon news release that is still handing out items at Syosset-Woodbury Community Park in Woodbury and Marjorie R. Post Community Park in Massapequa to assist residents in their storm recovery efforts.
Through 5 p.m. today and from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, residents are invited to select items at these locations.

Also, the Town will continue to distribute MREs (meals ready to eat) and bottled water at these locations, as well as Stehli Beach in Bayville, through Friday.
-- Newsday Staff

UPDATED 3:01 P.M.
Homeless man fills stomach thanks to Red Cross

Michael Frederick sat alone on top a cot, thankful for a full belly, and even if for one afternoon, felt like royalty.

"I've had too much to eat. I'm not used to eating like this," the 58-year-old homeless man told the American Red Cross volunteer on Thursday afternoon. Frederick has had his healthy share of chicken soup, pepperoni pizza and fruit punch since coming to the shelter, which is being housed on the campus of William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach.

He said the feeling in his hands and feet is slowly returning after sleeping several uncomfortably cold nights in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy at the King Kullen shopping center.

At midafternoon, with no one else inside the gymnasium where he slept, he recalled how his constant search for a warm bed began.

"I have seizures which led to drinking, and every time I have a seizure it freaks my parents out," he said.

Frederick lived out of his car for a short time after losing his place to stay in January. He said he wrecked the car and has laid his head wherever he could since.

"I thought I was going to die,” he said. “The hurricane came and I was sleeping in below 30-degree temperatures."

For now, he said, he's OK. But tomorrow is another day to scratch and claw. "The shelter will close tomorrow; not sure what I will do."

Before the day ends, he plans to stay on a full stomach and stay warm and cozy.
-- Deon J. Hampton

UPDATED 2:54 P.M.
Official: Roads ‘pretty clear’ in Long Beach

Long Beach workers were out all of Wednesday night putting out sand and salt, city officials said.

"They worked through the night and the roads are pretty clear," spokesman Gordon Tepper said Thursday afternoon.

The city, where resources are strained by Sandy cleanup, used "whatever we had available," said city manager Jack Schnirman.

"It went well. We plowed all night," he said.
-- Patrick Whittle

UPDATED 2:47 P.M.
Freeport streets being cleared

Freeport Village public works superintendent Scott Richardson said "all main throughways are progressively being cleared and secondary roads are being cleared."

Richardson added that downed wires remain a caution in some areas.

"Once these obstructions have been addressed, DPW snow removal crews will continue to move forward," Richardson said.
-- Patrick Whittle

UPDATED 2:45 P.M.
Seaford house takes it on the chin

UPDATED 2:25 P.M.
Greenlawn resident: Last without power on block

Like a significant number of Long Islanders, Patricia Rouse and her husband, Paul, have been without electricity for the past 10 days — after winds from superstorm Sandy ripped the power connection from their home in Greenlawn.

Rouse said everyone else on her block has had power restored; her house hasn’t been. And Rouse, 75, said she’s been unable to reach anything other than a recording at LIPA to get the matter fixed.

Rouse said she’s done everything she needed to do to enable LIPA to restore service.

The day after Sandy knocked out her power, Rouse said she hired an electrician to reconnect her line to her home on East Maple Road. The electrician came the following day, Oct. 31, and made the fix.

But, because of the cold, Rouse said she and her husband, who is 83, have been staying with their daughter in Centereach. Because of the gas shortage they have been unable to drive back and forth to Greenlawn — so they weren’t home to show LIPA proof their line was good to go, reconnected by a licensed electrician.

She tried to call the LIPA hotline number — only to be connected, she said, to a hotline offering her a free trip to Bermuda. Additional attempts have been futile, she said.

“We’re seniors,” Rouse said. “If we’d stayed in the house, they would have found us dead .?.?. We’ve tried to do the right thing. But we can’t get hold of LIPA, that’s the problem.”
— John Valenti

UPDATED 2:05 P.M.
Mastic Beach man gets hands-on help from mayor

A frustrated Andrew Lacey walked into the Mastic Beach Village municipal building Thursday wondering when inspectors would certify that his home wasn't flooded. That would allow Long Island Power Authority crews to restore power to his home. While he does has a generator, he prefers the electricity he had before superstorm Sandy.

Overhearing that the stranger standing next to him was Mayor Bill Biondi, Lacey, 40, asked, "Are inspectors coming today?"

The mayor responded, "Yes," before making a call to ensure his statement was accurate.

The now-happy resident, whose home wasn't flooded in Sandy or the nor'easter, shook Biondi's hand, informing him how appreciative he was for the help.

Others here haven't been as fortunate. For the second time in more than a week, massive flooding and outages slammed the small village and the mayor estimates 300 more homes lost power in the nor'easter.
-- Deon J. Hampton

UPDATED 2:01 P.M.
Lindenhurst road spared by nor’easter

By the looks of it, South 6th Street in Lindenhurst was spared the worst of Sandy and a subsequent nor'easter.

Jimmy DeZego, 64, said his home lost power for just two days, and not until the morning after the storm. And his wife's backyard greenhouse lost paneling.

Many on the block have power, he said, but don't ask him to compare Sandy to what he considers her much fiercer predecessor: Hurricane Gloria, the 1985 storm that wreaked havoc on Long Island.

That's when a boat reached the front porch of his mother-in-law's home. She lived south of Montauk Highway.

The division point — Montauk Highway, north or south — serves as a measure of damage in the village.

"For me to assess it, isn't fair," DeZego said. "It was bad in 1985," DeZego recalled, when he lived south of Montauk. And this time, he said, "North of Montauk wasn't as bad."

When asked about the government's handling of Sandy, he chuckled. "I like the idea that we're getting more help outside of New York," he said.
-- Scott Eidler

UPDATED 1:54 P.M.
Resident: Plainview ‘a forgotten land’

Without electricity since superstorm Sandy hit Long Island on Oct. 29, Lois and Warren Warshauer have spent evenings asleep in their cold Plainview home — and days warming themselves at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library.

But they found the library closed Thursday, its electricity out as a result of the overnight nor’easter that dropped up to 8 inches of snow on the Island.

So they ventured to the makeshift Red Cross shelter at Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School — only to find it had lost power, too. Residents at the shelter were bused to a shelter in Farmingdale.

“This is really a mess,” Lois, 74, told Newsday Thursday.

Red Cross spokesman Craig Cooper said he not know how many people in the shelter were taken to Farmingdale after the power went out Wednesday night.

“There are backup plans in place to respond when something like this happens,” Cooper said.

The shelter at Plainview-Old Bethpage was one of six that opened Wednesday in Nassau and Suffolk in response to anticipated need because of the nor’easter. It lost power at about 10:30 p.m. — during the height of the nor’easter. It’s not clear when that power will be restored.

Cooper said he didn’t know how many of the six shelters would be open Thursday night.

Meanwhile, outage numbers from LIPA indicated there were almost 60,000 additional outages suffered overnight, raising the outage number to 207,207 at 7 a.m. Thursday.

“If you can’t take care of the houses,” Lois Warshauer said, frustrated, “you should take care of the places people need to go .?.?. During the entire storm we have never seen a LIPA truck on our block. Plainview is like a forgotten land.”
— Candice Ferrette

UPDATED 1:49 P.M.
Glen Cove neighborhood spared worst of nor’easter

Glen Cove's low-lying East Island neighborhood, which suffered some of the city's worst flood damage and longest power outages after superstorm Sandy, was relatively unscathed by this week's nor'easter, residents said.

One resident pointed out the neighborhood had received none of the snow that seemed to coat the rest of the region.

Another East Island resident, John Chicvak, 49, called the nor'easter "just another storm."

He and his family lost power after Sandy and finally had it restored Wednesday night as the nor'easter struck, but did not lose it again. He said the three feet of Sandy floodwater pumped out of his basement had not returned and the heat in his home began working again Thursday morning.

His 3- and 5-year-old boys still did not have school Thursday and played in the house as Chicvak and two colleagues wheeled floodwater-warped books, furniture and other goods out of his basement and garage.

"As bad as I have it, people had it much worse," he said. "As long as I have heat and electricity, I can deal with anything."

Patients of Chicvak's Great Neck dental practice had canceled their appointments, so two of his employees, one wearing blue medical scrubs, were helping him remove debris from his home.

"Now we're in the process of cleaning up," he said.

A freshly delivered pile of firewood sat in Chicvak's driveway and he said Federal Emergency Management Administration representatives were to visit later Thursday.

Looters had tried unsuccessfully to break into Chicvak's garage Tuesday but stole two power generators elsewhere and burglarized another home on the island, he said. Mayor Ralph Suozzi confirmed the looting and said police were now protecting the area.

Glen Cove police sat guard at the entrance to the island Thursday, checking drivers licenses and taking down license plate numbers.

In mainland Glen Cove, on the short stretch of Oak Lane where at least six of the majestic namesake trees were felled by Sandy, bringing clumps of power lines down with them, the air smelled of burning fireplace firewood and a power generator buzzed.

Power had not returned to the homes, and Suozzi said the street could be among the last restored.

"Oak Lane suffered the worst non-flooding damage," he said. "They don't even have utility poles anymore."

The street, however, was clear of debris. On each side of Oak Lane were raw stumps of trees and yellow caution tape around trees, broken utility poles and bundles of power lines.

The occupants of one Oak Lane home seemed focused not on the nor'easter, but on Sandy. "Day 11," a sign on the door read in marker and construction paper.
-- Emily Ngo

UPDATED 1:41 P.M.
Power, no power: Luck of the draw

UPDATED 1:25 P.M.
From shoveling sand to shoveling snow

Robert Weinstein, 42, was shoveling out his Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle from where it was parked in the street outside his high-rise condo on Broadway near Magnolia Boulevard on Thursday.

An attorney, Weinstein has been able to get to his office in Garden City each day since Sandy struck Oct. 29.

“I put another comforter on the bed, but it still was pretty cold,” Weinstein said of his overnight sleep between pushes of his shovel. “I was grateful this morning when I woke up and saw that the storm surge from this latest storm doesn’t appear to have done much damage. It looks like all we got was heavy wet snow.”

Still without power, Weinstein shops daily for food and necessities at a grocery store on his way home from work. He’s been able to cope OK, mostly because he lives alone, he said.

And although he’s not thinking about leaving the city, he does find the weather somewhat overwhelming.

“I find it ironic that just yesterday I was using this shovel to remove sand from around my car and this morning I am shoveling snow,” he said.
-- James T. Madore

UPDATED 1:14 P.M.
North Hempstead supervisor: Nor’easter roads ‘horrific'

In North Hempstead, crews that had been working to clear trees that had been downed by Sandy had to be redirected to clear roads on Wednesday night once it became clear that the nor'easter was packing a larger punch than forecasters thought.

Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman said more than 150 workers were sent out Wednesday night clearing the roads.

"The roads were horrific," Kaiman said. "As we saw the nature of the snow coming down, we shifted a lot quicker to the highway folks clearing the roads."

Kaiman said that before the latest storm, LIPA had said about 25,000 were left without power in the town. That number went up on Wednesday night, but Kaiman said he did not have the latest numbers.

"There's an overwhelming sense of frustration by people just based on power more than anything else," Kaiman said, adding that some who had recently had their power restored lost it again during Wednesday night's storm.

The greatest damage in the town came to areas already hardest hit by Sandy: Great Neck, Port Washington, and significant areas of Roslyn and the Willistons, Kaiman said.

Kaiman said several hundred utility crews were back in North Hempstead on Thursday, and that town crews would have all the town's roads clear by early afternoon on Thursday.

A shelter opened up Wednesday at the New Hyde Park High School for people who needed shelter during the storm. Kaiman said the town sent buses to the town's comfort stations, and about a dozen people decided to spend the night at the shelter.
-- Jennifer Barrios

UPDATED 1:02 P.M.
Red Cross official says they’re here for the long haul

Sal Montoro, of the Red Cross' Nassau County chapter, on Thursday morning dropped off fresh supplies for the storm shelter at Glen Cove High School.

Among them were comfort packets filled with soap, washcloths, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Montoro, a disaster response leader, said he expected Red Cross storm shelters in the area to stay open for displaced residents in one capacity or another for a while.

"At least a couple of weeks at this point," he said. "We can't throw people out and we won't."

The shelter, managed by the Red Cross last week after superstorm Sandy, was then run by Glen Cove city employees and volunteers over the weekend when the number of people seeking shelter peaked at 100 and then into the week. But on Wednesday, it returned to Red Cross oversight, Mayor Ralph Suozzi said.

"With concern over the weather, we reopened," Red Cross shelter manager Julia Bishop said Thursday. Bishop, who lives in Longview, Wash., had traveled to Long Island last Saturday to lend a hand and was staying at the shelter.

Red Cross and city workers together were trying to plan whether the handful of people staying at the high school should be moved to city's senior center, in case school district officials reopen the school to students on Friday.

Eight individuals, mostly elderly residents, were staying at the shelter Tuesday morning. None wanted to comment, but staff and volunteers said a total of 13 had stayed overnight during the nor'easter, including one family that lost power in the nor'easter after regaining it post-Sandy.

Some residents come by during the day to warm up and choose to return to their oftentimes powerless homes, however cold, at night, Bishop said.

"During the day, they want heat, warm food and someone to talk to," she said.

The shelter at the high school has mental health and nursing facilities as well as showers. Bishop said she wished it had a fresh supply of crossword puzzle books and magazines to help occupy the residents.

A large sock monkey doll sat near the entrance of the shelter and was meant "for comfort," a Red Cross worker said.

It wore a Red Cross T-shirt signed by workers and volunteers in Baltimore and would be signed by those in Glen Cove and sent on to another facility elsewhere in the country, workers said.
-- Emily Ngo

UPDATED 12:47 P.M.
4 inches of snow in Smithtown

The Town of Smithtown was covered with about 4 inches of heavy, wet snow by Wednesday's nor'easter, officials said.

"It's very hard to manage. It's the worst," said John Valentine, director of the town's Office of Public Safety. "You have snow on top of leaves now .?.?. so we're seeing spotty flooding all over town."

To combat the flooding, crews cleared drains of the tree debris, he said. "By day's end they're saying the slush and snow will freeze again, so it's got to get off the roads," said Valentine.

Glenn Jorgensen, the town's superintendent of highways, said at least 80 vehicles were out early Wednesday evening to address the snow.

"Yesterday we went from clearing the debris off the side of the roads, to plowing and sanding the roads at night," he said of shifting gears from post-Sandy cleanup efforts to the nor'easter. "When the nor'easter hit, I had more trees come down and power lines come down, which we reported to LIPA."

Plows continued through midnight and resumed again at 4 a.m. Thursday morning — starting with main roads and moving on to more interior roads, said Jorgensen.

As of 11:45 a.m., asphalt can be seen on the roads, said Jorgensen, adding, "Right now we're in good shape."

He praised employees for working 11-hour days to serve residents. Most of them will go home to get rest at 3:30 p.m. today, he said, with a few staying on for potential emergencies.

Everyone will be back at it tomorrow at 7 a.m., said Jorgensen.

"My guys really step up to the task when the chips are down. Nobody has gotten hurt yet," he said. "It's a dangerous job, cutting trees and removing debris."
-- Lauren R. Harrison

UPDATED 12:41 P.M.
Workers from California suffer nor’easter setback in Lindenhurst

As Cory Edney stepped toward his car, his wheels nearly a foot deep in flood water, he stopped to survey the house and its owner next door.

"Look at this guy," said Edney, 23, who made the trip from California to Lindenhurst last weekend. He's here to help relieve homes post-Sandy.

"He's pulling stuff out of his house because it's destroyed,” Edney said. “You don't see that in California."

Joining Edney, 23, was his co-worker Tony Guzman, 25. Both men are from Fairfield, Calif., and employees of Servpro, a company based there that restores damaged homes. They made the 2,800-mile trip together.

"It's like it never happened," is the company's slogan, both men point out.

All week, they have worked fast to remove wreckage. They've dried out "pools of water," present in so many homes. Pieces of drywall and piles of debris build up on front lawns.

But since a nor'easter blanketed Long Island Wednesday night, the homes on this East Shore Road block suffered a significant setback.

"It's like we never did anything," Guzman said.

This residential street, adjacent to a snow-covered and badly damaged marina, still bears the scars of Sandy.

Black, plastic garbage bags form mounds on lawns. Couches and cabinets lay with them.

"You have to redo everything," Edney said. At one home, "the whole bottom floor is gone."

The men have stayed at a nearby apartment complex, and the job has meant 12-hour days.

"If we're not working, we're waiting online for gas," Guzman said.

The prospect of a break is far from sight.

"No Thanksgiving or Christmas this year," said Guzman.

"Or," Edney qualifies, "A good one."
-- Scott Eidler

UPDATED 12:31 p.m.
Freeport: No additional flooding
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Freeport, which is still recovering from Sandy, spent midday hustling to plow snowy streets on Thursday, said village spokeswoman Sophia Johnson.

"It surprised everyone," Johnson said.

Meanwhile, the village dealt with leftover Sandy damage that was exacerbated by the nor'easter. Streets in the south end flooded, and Johnson said Department of Public Works crews worked well into the night securing Sandy debris from flying around in high winds.

The village brought in extra contractors to help deal with the debris, Johnson said.

Additional power outages were minimal and were quickly restored, Johnson said. Many south end residents still lack power because of Sandy.

No additional cases of homes flooding have been reported, Johnson said.

"We were anticipating tides instead of snow, but the DPW was prepared for everything," she said. "Snow is preferred to wind."

Johnson added that the village has begun the process of restoring power to the battered Nautical Mile commercial area.
-- Patrick Whittle

UPDATED 12:25 p.m.
Some Nassau helping facilities closed

According to a news release issued Thursday by Nassau County, some shelter locations, shower facilities and warming centers utilized by residents dealing with the effects of superstorm Sandy are closed today due to the effects of Wednesday’s nor’easter.

Shelter locations

The Red Cross shelter location at Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School (121 Central Park Road) is closed today due to a power outage. Red Cross shelter locations are still available at:

* Nassau Community College, Building P, Garden City
* Levittown Memorial High School, 150 Abbey Lane
* Farmingdale High School, 150 Lincoln St.
* Glen Cove High School, 150 Dosoris Lane
* New Hyde Park High School, 500 Leonard Blvd.
* North Shore Temple — 83 Muttontown Rd., Syosset

Shower facilities

The Aquatic Center at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow is closed today due to a power outage. Free shower facilities are available at:

* Cantiague Park, West John St., Hicksville
* Mitchel Athletic Complex, Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Uniondale

Warming Centers
Nassau County warming centers at the senior center in Franklin Square, Freeport, Great Neck, Hempstead, Herricks (New Hyde Park), North Merrick and Wantagh are closed today due to inclement weather. Warming centers are still available at:

* Baldwin: Senior Center, 1810 N Grand Ave., (9 a.m.-6 p.m.)
* Bellmore: Library, 2288 Bedford Ave. (opens 200 Bellmore Ave.) (9 a.m.-9 p.m.)
* Bellmore: Senior Center (9 a.m.-6 p.m.)
* Bethpage: Senior Center, 103 Grumman Rd. W (9 a.m.-4 p.m.)
* East Meadow: American Legion Hall, 294 Bellmore Rd. (3-8 p.m.)
* Elmont: Senior Center, 138 Elmont Rd. (9 a.m.-6 p.m.)
* Freeport: Memorial Library, 144 West Merrick Rd. (9 a.m.-9 p.m.)
* Glen Cove: Senior Center, 130 Glen St., (9 a.m.-5 p.m.)
* Green Acres: Senior Center, 400 Flower Rd., Valley Stream (9 a.m.-6 p.m.)
* Levittown: Senior Center, 555 Newbridge Rd. (9 a.m.-6 p.m.)
* Massapequa Park: Our Lady of Lourdes School, 379 Linden St.
* Merrick: Library, 2279 Merrick Ave., (9 a.m.-9 p.m.)
* Merrick: Golf Course Clubhouse, 2550 Clubhouse Rd. (6 a.m.-7 p.m.)
* Oyster Bay: Senior Center, 45 E Main St. (Mon.-Wed. 9 a.m.-8 p.m.: Thurs.-Fri. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.)
* Port Washington: Senior Center, St. Stephens Church, 9 Carlton Ave. (9 a.m.-4 p.m.)
* Rockville Centre: American Legion, 197 Maple Ave. (noon- 9 p.m.)
* Rockville Centre: Hispanic Brotherhood Senior Program, 59 Clinton Ave. (9 a.m.-4 p.m.)
* Roosevelt: Rosa Parks Senior Center, 2 Babylon Tpke. (9 a.m.-6 p.m.)
* Syosset: North Shore Synagogue, 83 Muttontown Eastwoods Rd., (also serving three meals a day)
* Uniondale/Hempstead: Senior Center, 840 Uniondale Ave., (9 a.m.-6 p.m.)
* Uniondale/Merrick: Senior Center, 750 Jerusalem Ave., Uniondale (9 a.m.-6 p.m.)
* Wantagh: Temple Bnei Torah, 2900 Jerusalem Ave. (Mon.-Thurs. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Fri. 9 a.m.-3 p.m.)
* West Hempstead: Echo Park Pool, 399 Nassau Blvd. (9 a.m.-6 p.m.)
* Westbury: Magnolia Gardens Senior Center, 899 Broadway

In addition, the Red Cross has opened a number of meal distribution centers Nassau County. Locations are open from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4 p.m.- 6 p.m. Meals, water, and comfort kits will be distributed at the following locations.

* Cedar Creek Park in Seaford: Merrick Road, east of Wantagh Ave.
* Grant Park in Hewlett: Broadway & Sheridan Avenue
* Nickerson Beach Park in Lido Beach — 880 Lido Blvd.
-- Newsday Staff

UPDATED: 12:10 P.M.

UPDATED 11:29 a.m.
Warming centers, donations in Islip Town

The Town of Islip issued an E-Alert with an updated list of shelters and outreach programs that residents can use, especially those who still lack heat and power.

The following list outlines relief centers within Islip borders:

American Legion Post 411
39 Nassau Ave., Islip
8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Open daily. The public can come in for a free breakfast and/or lunch. We will also offer free ice, free cellphone charging, hot beverages throughout the day (coffee, tea, hot chocolate). Tables and chairs will be set up with board games and cards. Volunteers to help staff the post are welcome. For more information, call 631-277-8383.

Joyce Fitzpatrick Senior Center
50 Irish Lane, Islip
Today and Friday, noon-8 p.m.
Free cellphone charging, hot beverages throughout the day (coffee, tea). Call 631-224-5396 for more information.

West Islip Senior Center
90 Higbie Lane, West Islip
Today and Friday, noon-8 p.m.
We will offer free cellphone charging, hot beverages throughout the day (coffee, tea). Call 631-893-8932 for more information.

St. Marks Church
754 Montauk Hwy., Islip
Every Evening from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
Offering free hot food, phone charging, Wi-Fi and fellowship. Call 631-581-4950.

Donations

180 Orville Dr., Bohemia
Accepting donations of food, clothing and supplies. Sponsored by the Islip Foreign Trade Zone, Woman of West Islip, Keep Islip Clean and the Sayville Community Ambulance.
-- Newsday Staff

UPDATED 10:57 A.M.
Mobile Town Building Department to assist Hempstead Town residents

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray has announced the launch of the town’s “Mobile” Town Building Department, to be stationed in several communities through Sunday. At the different locations, the town’s Building Department staff members will assist residents seeking to rebuild or reconstruct their homes.

Murray has directed the Hempstead Town Building Department to waive permit fees for storm-related structural repairs that conform to original dimensions and specifications, commonly referred to as “in-kind” repairs/replacement. Permit fees have also been waived for temporary housing trailers that are often used in the wake of home fires or similar emergencies.

The fee waiver program will run for six months from the date of the storm (Oct. 29, 2012). Building permits are required for all structural repairs and alterations to structures within the Town of Hempstead.

Staff members will assist residents with answers to questions related to building permits, inspections, construction and FEMA-related services. Residents can also obtain permit applications from these mobile locations.

From noon- 6 p.m., the Hempstead Town Mobile Building Department will be at:

Today:
Baldwin Park, 3232 South Grand Ave., Baldwin Harbor
Oceanside Park, 3800 Mahlon Brower Dr., Oceanside

Friday:
Terrace Gardens Park, Carvel Place and Sheridan Boulevard, Inwood
Merrick Road Park, 2550 Clubhouse Road, Merrick

Saturday
Wantagh Park, 1 King Rd., Wantagh
Rath Park, 849 Fenworth Blvd., Franklin Square

Sunday
Point Lookout Town Park, Lido Blvd., Point Lookout (at the end of the Loop Parkway)
North Woodmere Park, 750 Hungry Harbor Rd., Valley Stream

Residents applying for building permits will need to furnish a copy of an insurance claim related to the repair/replacement along with architectural plans submitted to the town’s building department.

Town residents can also call the Building Department at 516-812-3073 for further information or to schedule a meeting with a planning examiner. The Building Department, regularly open from Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., has temporarily extended its hours to 8 a.m. through 6 p.m.
-- Newsday Staff