By ANGELA MARSHALL
Instead of tooling around town looking for post-holiday bargains, South Shore residents were shoveling themselves out of about a foot of snow. The massive snow storm that blanketed most of the East Coast on Saturday deposited 10 to 16 inches in Nassau County and left in its wake a trail of stuck cars, closed stores and sore backs.
The storm came earlier than expected, dumping more than four inches by 8 a.m. By mid-morning, much of the metropolitan area was paralyzed as the snow kept falling. Banks, stores and other businesses closed their doors and sent home workers who had made the dangerous trek in.
Despite well-publicized warnings by officials to stay home, many people were out on the roads early Saturday morning, making the job of cleaning up from the storm harder for government workers.
Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead each had more than 100 plows and other snow-clearing equipment on the streets. Villages such as Rockville Centre, Valley Stream and Lynbrook also put their plows to the pavement to get the streets clear in time for New Year's Eve celebrators.
However, many people were less than thrilled with the results. Charles Kee of Rockville Centre called the village's attempts to remove snow an absolute disgrace, among the worst he has seen in 50 years. On Tuesday morning, he was still helping neighbors when they got stuck in the snow in front of his home on Forest Avenue.
Anthony Cancellieri, Village Administrator, said he was "very, very unhappy with the results."
All supervisors in affected departments were called to a meeting on Tuesday morning and told that the work was unacceptable. "We're replowing the entire village as we speak," Cancellieri said.
The Administrator said he did not believe the performance had anything to do with current contract negotiations between RVC and its civil-service association workers. "We goofed," Cancellieri said, blaming problems on the need for better supervision.
With 16 inches of snow, Oceanside was the community hardest hit. According to Bob Davis, superintendent of highway maintenance for Nassau County, Oceanside was hit earlier than most and it made all the difference in cleanup. On Tuesday morning, County workers were still trying to make some main roads passable.
Making roads even more treacherous, Davis said, was snow dumped there by private contractors. After County plows cleared Long Beach Road Saturday morning, large amounts of snow were dumped back on it. "The road looked like it was never plowed," Davis said.
Pushing snow onto streets, whether by a contractor or a resident, is illegal. However, enforcement is hard, Davis said.
Nassau Leg. Joseph Scannell (D-Baldwin) said he was amazed at how little snow had been cleared, considering how much advance publicity the storm received.
He blamed the County's slow reaction on a lack of workers. "This is the reason we've been pushing to rehire people in the Department of Public Works," he said.
Scannell encouraged anyone still having problems with their streets after Tuesday's plowing efforts to call his office at (516) 571-6205.
The Town of Hempstead said it held an emergency meeting before the storm to go over strategy to combat massive amounts of the white stuff. The Town said it was ready with 300 workers and 350 pieces of equipment.
"We had all the senior management here to make sure equipment and personnel were ready to go," a spokesperson said. "We wanted to make sure the holiday weekend was safe."
As of Tuesday, the spokesperson said, Town crews were still working around the clock to improve road conditions.
Although LIPA had prepped for a high number of outages, the storm left few people without power. "It was nowhere near what we had feared," said Michael Lowndes, manager of media relations for LIPA.
At the peak of the storm, he said, there were only 900 customers without power out of 1.4 million Islandwide, and by 5 p.m. Saturday there were only 50. "That is below what an average day would be," Lowndes said.
More snow is expected on Friday, and officials said they were busy repairing plows in order to get them back on the streets.
LIPA's tips for storm survival
The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) issued a list of steps for
resident to follow when preparing for a winter storm.
N Never touch or go near fallen wires, even if you think they are safe. If you are in a vehicle that comes in contact with a downed wire, stay in your vehicle until help arrives.
N Make sure you have a working, battery-powered radio or TV and a good supply of fresh replacement batteries. Have flashlights available for all family members.
N If an electric pump supplies your water, fill spare food-grade containers with water for cooking and washing in anticipation of a possible power interruption.
N Make sure all motor drive equipment, such as garage door openers, can be operated manually.
N When using a portable generator, make sure all LIPA-powered equipment is disconnected. This will avoid severe hazards when reconnecting the power to your home or business.
N Have a first aid kit at home and check its contents to make sure they are complete and up to date. If you have family members with special needs, such as insulin or other prescription drugs, check to make sure you have an adequate supply.
N Do not use charcoal to cook indoors: deadly carbon monoxide gas can accumulate in your home.
N If you have an elderly neighbor, be a good Samaritan and check on his or her status. Even a quick telephone call during a storm can provide much appreciated assurance that help is nearby if needed.
N Should an electric power interruption occur, all sensitive equipment, such as computers and TV's should be disconnected until service is restored.
