LIPA, Hempstead work to restore power

Kevin Law, president of the Long Island Power Authority, described last Saturday’s nor’easter as “one of the biggest weather events in Long Island history.”

According to Law, 257,000 customers lost electricity in the storm, but as of Tuesday, 221,000 had power restored. He noted that the other 36,000 customers were in Hempstead, Babylon and Islip. Power was also restored to the 95 schools in Nassau and Suffolk Counties that had lost it. He said he anticipated that 95 percent of all homes, businesses and schools would have power by Wednesday night.

To handle what Law characterized as hurricane-type winds, LIPA sent out four times as many employees as it does in a normal storm, with help from crews from upstate New York, New England, Pennsylvania, Canada and as far away as Indiana and Michigan. “We have all hands on deck working,” he said.

Law said he wished he could do more for those who were still without power. “I feel for them,” he said. “I wish I could push a button and put the power back on, but it’s not that simple.”

In the lingering bad weather on Sunday, Law explained, another 15,000 customers lost power. “Have patience,” he said on Monday to those still in the dark. “We are doing everything we can as fast as we can.”

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray said on Monday that the town had crews working around the clock clearing streets, though as the work week began, there were still an estimated 60 roads blocked by fallen trees. The town had cleared away some 400 downed trees, she explained, but another 50 to 100 had fallen since the storm wound down. She noted that 58 percent of town residents were still without power. “The Town of Hempstead bore the most intense brunt of the storm,” Murray said.