Weekend storm packs a wallop

Sorry, kids, the snowstorm hit about 24 hours too early.

A weekend blizzard dropped more than a foot of snow on the region over the weekend, but by the time last flakes fell, there was still plenty of time to clear all the roads for the start of the week. No Valley Stream school districts were closed on Monday.

Tim Leahy, the village’s highway supervisor, said that crews began salting and sanding the main roads about an hour before the snow started falling Saturday afternoon. By 8:30 p.m. the plows were out in full force, and crews didn’t finish up until about 3 p.m. on Sunday. “We just stayed on top of it,” Leahy said. “It’s better to plow two or three inches at a time than 12.”

Leahy said the village had 15 trucks in operation, and two 35-man shifts for the duration of the storm. On Sunday night, after residents blew or shoveled snow into the street from their sidewalks or swept it off their cars, there was more of cleanup work to be done, and on Monday morning, as businesses cleared their parking lots, more snow ended up on the roads and had to be cleaned up by village crews. Businesses can receive summonses for pushing snow into the streets, Leahy said, but first the village issues warnings.

No trees were damaged in the storm, which Leahy said is common during blizzards with high winds. Overall, he said, the cleanup went smoothly. “It wasn’t a heavy, wet snow,” he said. “It was a lighter snow, which is better for us.”

Village Clerk Vinny Ang, who said he drove around other areas of Nassau County after the storm, praised the work of his highway department. “I think they did a great job under tough circumstances,” Ang said.

Mary Laxton, who has a daughter at the William L. Buck School and another at South High School, said her children weren’t too disappointed that the storm didn’t result in a day off from school. “They were just happy to see snow,” Laxton said. “They were out in it for hours.”

Her children built a fort and a tunnel but “the snow wasn’t great for a snowman,” she said.

Fortunately, Laxton said, her neighbor cleared her sidewalk with a snow blower, but it took her husband two hours to shovel out the car.

District 30 Superintendent Dr. Elaine Kanas said Valley Stream school officials were in agreement by Sunday afternoon that the local roads were in good shape and there would be no need to close on Monday. Once school grounds crews cleared the parking lots, Kanas said, “Everything seemed like it was ready to go.”

As the storm drew near, residents had stocked up on shovels, scrapers and ice melt. Laura Oppenheimer, co-owner of Central Hardware, said there was a surge of customers on Friday when it became apparent the storm was going to be a big one. “We ran out of everything,” she said, “which is usual in situations like this.”

Oppenheimer said the store got some extra shovels just in time. She noted that early-season storms like this one tend to generate more business than later snows.

Leahy said that early storms like this one are the reason the village has its plow trucks ready to go by November. “I think, traditionally, you do get heavier snows in February,” he said. “If something like this does come along, we’re usually ready for it.”