Oceanside recovers from Irene

Some streets flooded and some trees were downed. But for many in Oceanside, Irene was not the catastrophic storm she was made out to be.
“The nor’easter last March was worse than this storm,” said Oceanside Fire Department Spokesman Ed Scharfberg, referring to the wind storm last year that downed dozens of trees in Oceanside. “The biggest problem we had was the flooding, and some downed poles. But not as much as we had in the nor’easter of March of 2010.”
Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano had ordered a mandatory evacuation of many South Shore communities, including Oceanside. However, many Oceansiders decided to stay and weather the storm. Some just didn’t want to leave their homes unprotected, while others wanted to be home to deal with whatever flooding arose.
Power outages were a big problem in the area, though. After the worst part of the storm, there were approximately 7,500 outages in Oceanside. As of press time on Monday, there were about 1,500 outages in Oceanside. But the Long Island Power Authority said it may not have full power back until Friday.

“Certain places were hit harder than others, but I think all the necessary precaution were taken,” said Tricia Knight, an Oceanside resident, on Facebook. “And for those of us in Oceanside who stayed to ride it out, it wasn’t too bad!”
The strongest part of the storm hit between 2 and 5 a.m. Sunday, while many residents were still asleep. The OFD was on call for the duration of the storm, but things weren’t as bad as expected.
“We handled approximately 75 calls in a 24-hour period,” Scharfberg said. “Last[March], we had over 200.”
The flooding was a concern for the area, though. Scharfberg said that the floodwaters forced the OFD to evacuate one of its houses in southern Oceanside. The worst, he said, was Sunday morning between 6 a.m. and noon.
According to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Herb Brown, the damage to the schools was “not too bad.”
“There was no power in School 6 [on Sunday], and there was a flood outside of the middle school, but not in the building,” Brown said. “I’m still waiting for a full report.” Brown is also waiting for an assessment of the damage to the school grounds.
But for the fire department, and many Oceanside residents, the storm was more sound and fury than destruction.
“It was really uneventful, to be honest,” Scharfberg said.