Picking up the pieces in Rockville Centre
Hundreds of trees felled; many are without power after fierce nor'easter
Hurricane-force winds buffeted Rockville Centre over the weekend, toppling hundreds of trees whose root structures were compromised by the rain-softened ground and cutting power for residents, making the village one of the hardest-hit areas on Long Island.
Village officials estimate that 400 to 500 trees fell, along with 24 telephone poles. At the height of the storm, an estimated 800 homes were without power. As of press time on Tuesday, power had been restored to most of them. Despite the widespread damage, no serious injuries were reported in the village.
About 20 percent of Rockville Centre's roads were blocked by fallen trees Saturday night, but 95 percent of them were cleared by Monday morning.
In an update sent out Monday night, Mayor Mary Bossart said that restoration work was continuing, and she expected power to be restored to most homes by Wednesday, and the rest by Friday. Crews from Oneonta, N.Y. and Garden City assisted with the repair work. Village parks and playing fields remained closed on Tuesday because of the possible danger from falling trees.
Burtis Avenue resident Jane Culkin and her family had a near-miss when two trees across the street toppled toward their home at about 5:30 Saturday night while she was helping her 17-year-old daughter, Colleen, prepare for the Red and Blue competition at South Side High School.
"I heard the concrete crack and we both looked up and saw the trees headed for the window," Culkin said. "We ran into the hallway — I got my son out of his room and said we had to leave the house. We ran downstairs and opened the front door only to find the tree headed right for us."
Luckily, Culkin and her family were unharmed. And so was their house, more or less. Even with two trees lying across their front lawn, the only damage to the house was to two windows, a gutter and some roof shingles.
The Culkins' car did not fare as well, however. At the Red and Blue event, there was an announcement that a tree had fallen on a car in the parking lot. It was the Culkins' red Ford Explorer.
