By:REBECCA SHALOMOFF and JEFF LIPTON
As predictions of a major winter storm dumping a foot or more of snow were forecast for Monday and Tuesday, residents and officials from Five Towns villages, the police department and schools heeded warnings of potentially dangerous conditions and prepared for the worst.
Schools and libraries closed down, supermarkets were packed with customers and cupboards overflowed with provisions in anticipation of a blizzard, with the abundance of snow, high winds and flooding that was predicted to turn East Coast towns upside down.
Canceling school for snow days, especially on Monday and Tuesday - the most dreaded days of the week - is many kids' dream. But there was not any snow for them to enjoy when they found out their weekend grew a little longer on Monday morning. Although it was not the doomsday forecast of blizzard-like conditions, about six inches of wind-blown snow were expected to fall as of press time on Tuesday.
"The kids are happy," Diane Hochman, whose three children attend Hewlett-Woodmere schools, said Monday morning. "They can't wait for the snow to come."
Administrators all over Nassau County closed public and private schools on Monday and Tuesday. Dr. Paul Kelleher, superintendent of the Lawrence Public Schools, consulted with staff members before he made a decision on Sunday night to shut down schools the next day because of the forecast of a storm. Lawrence teachers were called at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday and told not to report to school the following morning.
Hochman said parents in the Hewlett-Woodmere School District were notified early Monday morning about the decision to keep schools closed and the PTA put a phone chain in motion to notify all parents.
"No, I'm not surprised," she said. "This is the right decision to make. I only wish I had known the night before.
"It would be terrible if the kids were stranded [during a snow storm]," she added.
A parent with two children in the Lawrence schools said Tuesday she felt it was ridiculous that school was canceled for two days. "The roads are navigable in the Five Towns," said the parent, who did not want to be identified. "If my little car can make it, then these school buses can, too."
Even though there was barely an inch of snow on the ground on Monday morning, Kelleher said he was concerned whether students would be able to get home Monday evening, if and when the snow predictions came true. The district buses students to 150 non-public schools across the Island, and many of them are yeshivas that dismiss students around 5 p.m.
Meteorologists originally forecast that the storm would begin late afternoon on Sunday, but then moved it back a day, with the worst expected Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
"The real consideration was that by early [Monday] evening conditions would worsen," Kelleher said. "I didn't want to put those students on a bus. The predictions for high winds and coastal flooding would make bus traffic impossible."
Crews at local schools, village halls and the Town of Hempstead were on full alert, prepared to shovel sidewalks and driveways, plow roads and dump salt and sand on icy surfaces.
The town was heavily criticized for the way it handled the first winter storm, on New Year's Eve, and then hired a storm consultant to make suggestions for improving clean-up efforts. Town Supervisor Richard Guardino said officials held a strategy meeting Friday and then again Sunday morning.
On Sunday town officials salted all the roads twice overnight. "With two layers of salt out there, it helped in the rush hour [Monday morning], with the snow, ice or sleet.
"We're in a high-level of preparedness," Guardino said on Monday afternoon. "We're in an emergency mode here. We're ready to handle two feet of snow.
"The key is to be very aggressive and stay ahead of the storm."
Peter Overs, Lawrence village administrator, said Monday morning, "We have our equipment ready to go and men standing by. Having dealt with blizzards before, he said there was no reason to be afraid of the severe weather that was expected to come.
In the villages of Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Neck and Woodsburgh, snow plows were standing by and ready to roll, as were sand and salt spreaders. Woodsburgh's road maintenance man, Tony Surdo, clears the roads for that community while the two others contract with a snow removal company, Stony Creek Industries of Island Park, to clear their streets, said Marie Velotti, a clerk for all three villages.
"When the snow starts, they are ready to go," she said. "We expect it to go smoothly."
About five or six extra Fourth Precinct police officers were called in to patrol streets and were even prepared to evacuate people living on the coastlines of Atlantic Beach, Lido Beach and Point Lookout, if necessary. The last evacuation occurred during Hurricane Gloria in 1985.
Police also were prepared for any medical emergencies that arose and to assist the disabled, motorists or anyone else who needed storm-related help.
"We're prepared for every eventuality," said Police Officer Domenick Stanganelli, adding that if more officers were needed, they live in the area and could be called in to work in a pinch. "We're on full alert."
Residents around the community reacted to weather forecasts with concern, and some were in a state of panic about not being able to leave their homes when the storm hit, so they flocked to supermarkets and hardware stores on Sunday.
Justin's Hardware and Department Store in Woodmere was so busy that they sold out of snow shovels and ice melt. Flashlights and batteries were also popular items, said owner Donald Pearlstein.
"The lines went on for hours," said Tina Burnat, manager of Gourmet Glatt in Cedarhurst. "I never saw anything like that."
Kosher supermarkets in the area usually see large crowds of customers before Passover and Yom Kippur. But Ben Barr, supervisor of Super Sol in Lawrence, said the weekend business was practically chaotic.
"We were overwhelmed," Barr said. "We had an average of six registers open, and maybe 15 people waiting on each line all day long."
The store ran out of milk and bread, but got a delivery in the late afternoon to replenish the supplies in high demand.
"People acted like the Romans were coming," said Barr, who purchased extra gas for his snowblower and parked his car in a different spot in case the snow built up on his driveway.
"But it's good to make small preparations," he said. "It's better that way so we are prepared."
