By:Karenlyn Barone
According to Maureen Duffy, spokeswoman for Long Island American Water, the break, in a 20-inch water main beneath Atlantic and Ocean avenues in Oceanside, occurred at about 3 a.m. Tuesday. A crew was immediately dispatched to the site, where the damage was still being assessed Wednesday morning. Although it was still too early for a conclusive report, Duffy said, "Many times this type of break is weather-related."
Last winter, another pipe burst in the same area, but Duffy said that the two incidents were not related. "It's too soon to tell when the pipe will be repaired," she said, "but we are working with LIRR officials to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, and we are making it a priority to minimize disruption."
Although customers were not without water, some did experience low pressure or discolored water. Many residents reported that they first realized there was a main break when, after flushing the toilet, they noticed the replacement water was muddy.
"The system gets stirred up when there's a main break," Duffy said. "Residents should run their tap water until the water becomes clear again."
Crews were dispatched to flush the mains in the neighborhoods experiencing problems.
Due to the location of the break, LIRR service between Long Beach and Lynbrook was interrupted at the East Rockaway station, with one track shut down. Sam Zambuto, an LIRR spokesman, said that service in both directions had been suspended at 3:15 a.m. At that point, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority began limited bus service between the Long Beach and Lynbrook stations.
"By 6:30 a.m., westbound service was restored, but limited, which resulted in delays of up to 30 minutes." said Zambuto. "The buses continued for eastbound trains, which had service canceled starting at Valley Stream. We provided bus service from Valley Stream to the Long Beach station."
Commuters were advised to try to make their way to either the Babylon or Far Rockaway LIRR branch. According to Zambuto, the Babylon branch added stops at Rockville Centre and Lynbrook to accommodate the additional riders. What the MTA could not predict was the incident's continuing domino effect.
Just after 10 a.m., the cement columns that hold up the East Rockaway station platform began to sink in the waterlogged earth. As they did, sections of the platform collapsed. LIRR repair crews, already onsite, attending to the flooded tracks, had to remove the huge, damaged pilings with a crane and begin making plans to replace them. As a result, only a portion of the platform could be used by boarding and disembarking commuters.
By 10 a.m., trains were up and running in both directions, though only one track was in use, resulting in 15-minute delays throughout the morning. Zambuto could not predict when the platform or flooded track would be repaired.
Bobby Zigman, owner of Collision Depot, at 600 Atlantic Ave. in Oceanside, adjacent to the East Rockaway platform, lives in East Rockaway. He said he was sleeping at about 3 a.m. when Nassau County police called to inform him of the water main break and the flooding of his property.
"The flooding was like a smaller version of the tsunami in India," said Zigman. "Water was just gushing out onto my property, and they couldn't stop it. Outside my place there was probably about three or four feet of water in the back. Up front we have store drains, but my driveway is starting to collapse because all the sand and everything was taken out from underneath. There's a lot of damage."
Duffy suggested that Long Island American Water customers still having problems call the company at (877) 426-6999.
Joe Kellard contributed to this story. Comments about it? KBarone@liherald.com or 569-4000 ext. 202.
