Cleaning up after season's first snowfall

On Sunday morning, William Mattia, left, of East Rockaway, got some help with clearing the sidewalk from his son, Nicholas, 2.

Mary Malloy/Herald

Mario Zano shoveled his driveway on Ocean Avenue with support from his pal, Walter.

Kathy Leistner/Herald

Jim Nicoletti fired up his snow blower on Merton Avenue in Lynbrook Saturday to try to get ahead of the storm.

Courtesy Nicoletti family

Brody took some tentative steps in the snow last Saturday in Lynbrook.

Keith O'Reilly/Herald

Madilyn Ciccone, 1, was bundled up in style outside of her Lynbrook home.

Courtesy Crystal Ciccone

School was open on time in East Rockaway and Lynbrook on Monday morning. Pictured is a very cold crossing guard on Ocean Avenue at 8 a.m.

Mary Malloy/Herald

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Nearly two feet of snow fell on East Rockaway and Lynbrook in what was the first major snowstorm of the winter season.

“Municipalities always have to prepare for the worst, and we have a constant Office of Emergency Management keeping us advised on how to prepare for it,” Lynbrook Mayor Bill Hendrick said of the wide-ranging forecasts (major news outlets predicted anywhere from eight to 24 inches of snowfall.

Despite the fact that snow removal procedures seem fairly routine, Hendrick said there’s always unforeseen variables that the OEM must contend with.

“We know what we’re going to do, but it’s never routine,” he said before commending the job of the fire and police departments, as well as the concerted efforts of the Office of Emergency Management, DPW, and Building Department.

“The DPW was really super … Lynbrook was out in full force,” Hendrick said.

Gusts of 30-40 mph winds required constant snowplowing, which continued up through Tuesday. The Lynbrook library was closed only for Saturday’s extreme weather, and the school district reopened on schedule after the weekend.

“We brought our crews in on Sunday to make sure our school facilities were cleaned properly to welcome students on Monday,” said Lynbrook Schools Superintendent Melissa Burak. “While we are not responsible for the streets, we monitored the condition of major roads to ensure there was safe enough travel to school on those avenues. The fact that the whole event took place over the weekend, made it much easier for our people to do their jobs well.”

Lynbrook Department of Public Works Superintendent Phil Healey said that the storm hit earlier than expected, with snowplowing operations beginning at 3 a.m. on Saturday and not ceasing until Sunday at 10 p.m.

“The department’s focus at the initial stage is first to ensure a travel lane for each road to facilitate both the safe movement of people and to provide access for both public safety and emergency personnel,” Healey said. “We then have moved our operations into a cleanup and clearing operation focusing on crosswalks, public sidewalks and commuter parking fields which we will be addressing through [Tuesday] afternoon.”