By LAURIE KAMENS
The decision to move the 75 children to the OHS library was made even though backup generators provided lights but no air-conditioning on Aug. 2. "We had to make a decision quickly, and in the end it was important to move the kids for their safety," said Fred Koller, director of Oceanside's Department of Community Activities.
The kids played board games until their mothers and fathers arrived to take them home. "The parents were happy because the children were in air-conditioning and they were all having a great time and enjoying themselves," Koller said.
The oppressive heat wave that swept across Long Island caused some 28,135 Long Island Power Authority customers to go without electricity on Aug. 1 alone. As a result, the utility company sent out extra crews, working 16-hour shifts, to respond to the power outages, mostly caused by overloads on transformer and line fuses, according to LIPA spokesman Michael Lownes.
One such outage occurred on half of Ostend Road in Island Park Aug. 1. Resident Mike Spinelli said that at about 6 p.m. the power went out in homes on his side of the street, after a neighbor's transformer line caught fire. While the Island Park Fire Department arrived to handle the immediate danger, Spinelli and his neighbors remained without power for more than 24 hours.
"Granted, it was uncomfortable," Spinelli said, "but to have something like that happen and have power restored in about a day wasn't that bad. And the fire department was expeditious in its response."
The heat also wreaked havoc on traffic lights at various intersections, disabling the triggers that control the red, yellow and green signals, explained a police officer who was directing traffic at one intersection. "I sat at the Long Beach Road and Austin Boulevard intersection ... through three cycles," Island Park resident Barbara Rubin said on Aug. 2. "[A police] officer said they were having ... problems all along Long Beach Road and Austin, as well as other areas for the past two or three days."
Jerry Palmero of Oceanside experienced similar difficulties along Long Beach Road Aug. 2, when, he said, police blocked off traffic to Atlantic Avenue. "The traffic was so bad you couldn't turn off of Long Beach Road, and the traffic lights weren't working, either," he said.
Palmero also had energy problems at his home last week, when the power went out twice in one day for periods of 15 to 20 minutes. "When the air went off, it was terrible," he said. "I have a hard time breathing, and this incident has made me consider buying my own backup generator."
Though the hot weather inconvenienced many residents, they did their best to beat the heat. At Rita's Ices on Long Beach Road in Oceanside, patrons came out despite the heat, said co-owner Leslie Valentine. "Last year's heat wave meant the death of the business, but so far this year people are coming to the window," Valentine said, noting that she kept selling her ices even though her shop also experienced a blackout for 90 minutes on Aug. 2.
Many people also braved the heat to make it to the Island Park Beach. "Though we advise people to stay out of the heat, there has been an overwhelming response to the beach," said Village Clerk Gomi Perez. "It's the only place we can offer to residents to go cool off."
Some of the elderly were determined not to let the heat disrupt their daily routines. Senior citizens still made their way to the Oceanside-Island Park Senior Center at St. Anthony's Church in Oceanside, where the basement cafeteria is not equipped with air-conditioning. "I'm finding the heat terrible, but I make sure I cool my arms off, step in every sprinkler I see and keep the temperature cool in the house," said Oceansider Gloria Marsala as five large fans were blowing.
"People come out here to be sociable," said Anna Karusone of Lynbrook, "but we have to leave early because it gets too hot in the afternoon. We need air-conditioning."
Other seniors, like John Quinn of Valley Stream, a regular at the center, were unfazed by the heat. "It's no big deal," he said. "I went through basic training in Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana. And when they're shooting live ammunition over your head, this is nothing compared to that."
With the temperature soaring, there were records set for energy demand. To meet the rising need, LIPA delivered 106,000 megawatt hours on Aug. 1, breaking the previous record for energy expended in a 24-hour period by 3,000 MWH, officials said.
Lownes said that LIPA had been preparing for the increase in usage, investing close to $2 million over the past four years to expand and upgrade the distribution system, including adding 1,100 megawatts from new on- and off-island resources. "We have made an extraordinary effort on our part to meet the needs of customers," Lownes said.
To meet future increased demands, Lownes said, LIPA has a two-pronged attack. "We'll add more generators, but there also needs to be increased conservation on the part of our customers," he said.
Based on last week's heat wave, LIPA put into effect its Peak Load Reduction Program, asking customers to either reduce their demand for electricity or rely on self-generation, noting that this would also save them money on electric bills. "When the temperature is this oppressive," Lownes said, " . . . people get frustrated and turn the air-conditioning up full blast, figuring they can deal with the consequences later. We need to get customers to take this more seriously."
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
Photos by Janine Bily/Herald
