Bellmore, Merrick weather wet wintry mix

The blizzard forecasted for Bellmore-Merrick Tuesday brought signifincatly less snow than expected at mid-morning, though roads were made dangerous by a mixture of snow, sleet and rain.

"It's been very quiet," reported Bellmore Fire Department Chief Daniel Holl, adding that, once the rain hit, the storm did not appear to pose such a threat.

However, Ron Luparello, of the Merrick Fire Department, said that crews would be on standby for the rest of Tuesday because, he said, "We're expecting the roads to freeze up."

Luparello also reported that a brief power outage occurred in South Merrick earlier on Tuesday.

Government officials, including Town of Hempstead Supervisor Anthony Santino, also said they were concerned that lower-than-predicted snow totals might give people a false sense of security that roads are drivable. They aren't, Santino said, so people were supposed to stay put as road crews cleared streets and apply salt to de-ice them.

"My house is old so it's [been] drafty," said Mary Askin, 51, of Bellmore. Askin's husband, Jimmy, drove to Brooklyn at 5 a.m. where he works for Customs at Red Hook Piers. While he had a safe commute, he was the only employee to show up.

"It's a lot better than I'd anticipated," said Nicole Macaluso, of Bellmore. "It doesn't look like there will be much to shovel, but it is messy!"

The Long Island Rail Road warned that it might be forced to suspend service if conditions worsened. Special trains were spraying de-icer on the third rail, which energizes the trains. On its Twitter feed, the LIRR was reporting 15- to 20-minute delays on various branches in the early morning. Check the LIRR website for updates.

Thousands of flights at the region's airports were also delayed.

As of 7 a.m. on Tuesday, relatively little snow had fallen, but sleet was coming down hard. That wintry mix was expected to turn to all snow later in the morning, when temperatures were predicted to drop.

The Nassau County Department of Emergency Management projected six to 18 inches of snow, although Luparello acknowledged on Monday that anything could happen.

“Right now it’s all a guessing game with the computer models,” he said on Monday morning, adding that the department would have crew members on standby through Wednesday.

The storm was set to fall on a busy day for Nicole Cruz Chun, of Bellmore, who was scheduled for a C-section at 8 a.m. Tuesday. To avoid having to drive during the heaviest snow, Chun said on Monday, “I’ll probably be leaving my house around 4 a.m.” Her relatives would be at home taking care of her children, she said.

“I have plenty of salt, shovels, a snowblower,” said Audrey Ciuffo, of Merrick, on Monday. “And I think I’m good.” She added that she had shopped for food and supplies at Best Market in Merrick, which was crowded with local residents who were doing the same.

“This is going to be a very involved snowstorm…,” Supervisor Anthony Santino said at a news conference in Point Lookout on Monday, not far from where the Army Corps of Engineers is working on a coastal protection project for the barrier island “We expect significant coastal flooding, we expect very high wind conditions, and we expect a foot or more, possibly, of snow,” he warned.

“I’m hoping they’re overestimating,” said Vincent Scaduto, a Bellmore Fire Department spokesman. Starting Monday night, the Bellmore Fire Department was set to be on standby at all three of its stations, on Newbridge Road, Bellmore Avenue and Petit Avenue. Bellmorites “know to prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” he said.

According to Santino, the town had 50,000 tons of rock salt on hand, crews had been preparing roads throughout the town with snow-melting brine since Sunday, and more than 400 workers were ready to respond with about 300 pieces of equipment.