Editorial

The ups and downs of storm response

Posted

Sun and warmer temperatures are making the Jan. 23 blizzard seem like a distant memory, but there’s still a month and a half to go until spring, and it’s a safe bet there will be more snow. Here are our impressions of how things were handled after the storm.

A thumbs-up to PSEG Long Island. The utility’s efforts over the past two years to clear branches around power lines have paid off. The blizzard brought not only snow at 3 inches per hour, but strong and sustained winds. With power lines branch-free, most of the potential dangers were removed, and most residents had lights and heat throughout the storm.

About 25,000 outages were reported, which is to be expected, and they were fixed quickly. PSEG reported that most of those customers had their power back by 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 23. Multi-day outages, like those so many of us endured after Hurricane Sandy, seem to be a thing of the past.

A thumbs-down to the Long Island Rail Road. Ask any commuter, and he or she will tell you what a nightmare it was getting to and from work on Monday the 25th. Despite the fact that crews had an entire Sunday to clear tracks, several branches were out of service entirely, and others ran with modified schedules, which meant fewer and more crowded trains. The decision to keep them running through 4 p.m. the day of the storm was clearly the wrong one: The railroad should have been shut down sooner to avoid stranding trains, which hampered track-clearing efforts.

A thumbs-up to local fire departments. Our emergency responders were ready for this storm. With travel nearly impossible for cars, volunteers manned the firehouses so they could respond to fire and medical calls at a moment’s notice. They were separated from their families and had to sleep in less-than-ideal conditions. Many firefighters were out on Sunday as well, clearing hydrants in our communities, which saves time in the event of an actual fire.

And a thumbs-down to (all together now) people who blow and shovel their snow into the street. If you think you’re just getting back at the plows that pile it at the end of your driveway, you’re not. You’re punishing other drivers, who slip, slide and even get stuck in that snow. It should be piled on your property, period. Leave the roads no worse than the way the plows left them.