Rockville Centre cleans up after Irene

There were pockets of devastation that left about 500 homes in Rockville Centre without power on Sunday, but for the most part, the village came through the ravages of Hurricane Irene fairly intact. No storm-related injuries were reported.

At a post-storm meeting in Village Hall early Sunday afternoon, Mayor Francis Murray and trustees were told that there was an exceptional response by all village departments and that damage assessments were "minimal." Village officials described nearly seamless interdepartmental cooperation that improved response time for residents who called for help.

Murray will rescind the state of emergency as of midnight Monday morning, and village officials said normal garbage collection will take place on Monday.

Before the meeting, the Herald was invited to join Murray and Deputy Mayor Nancy Howard as they toured many sections of the village in the mayor's white Escalade. Murray had been up all night, and left Village Hall around 5 a.m. to tour the village. Later in the morning he and Howard stopped to speak with residents, view fallen trees,snapped power lines and property damage that in some spots was extensive. They worked to assure homeowners that the village would respond promptly and at times even helped to coordinate the response.

The overnight storm brought winds that gusted up to 80 m.p.h. and dumped an estimated 8 inches of rain on the village. The device that measures wind speed atop the village's power plant broke off at 2 a.m. and has yet to be found. A storm surge brought Mill River over its banks, and at about 8 a.m., during high tide, the South Park Avenue bridge over the river was under about a foot of water. Nearby athletic fields were flooded.

Police Commissioner Chuck Gennario reported that his department started receiving calls about downed trees around 1 a.m. Several businesses suffered blown out windows. He said officers responded to reports of several intoxicated people on village streets around 3 a.m. but the two major crimes — commercial burglaries — that occurred overnight, were outside of village limits.