By:Christopher Collora
Local residents are digging themselves out from the blizzard of '05 with the help of the village's plowing crews. Officials are crediting good preparation for keeping everyone safe.
Village Administrator Ron Wasson said that all streets have been plowed at least four times since the storm began. "We will continue to plow the roads," he said on Monday. "Tonight we will concentrate on moving snow out of parking lots, clearing curbs and sidewalks."
Wasson said the village's 14 plows have been working around the clock, with nearly 40 workers filling rotating shifts. "The streets are looking nice," he said. And despite snow depths ranging from 12 to 18 inches, there were no reported power outages.
Wasson said the village has a budget for plowing, and his best estimate is that the snow cleanup operation for this storm will cost about $40,000, including fuel and overtime wages. Wasson said that advanced preparations, and the fact that the storm occurred over a weekend, made it less costly to clean up after.
Harry Weed, a member of the cleanup crew, said plow drivers had been working non-stop since 2:30 p.m. Saturday, trying to keep the roads clear. While he thought the cleanup crews were doing a "fantastic job," not all residents agreed with his assessment. Florence Zaccaria, who lives off Hempstead Avenue, called the cleanup "fair." Said Zaccaria, a New York City schoolteacher who did not have Monday off, "I thought they did a very good job on the main roads and parking lots, but the side streets could have been given a little more attention."
Wasson said it's important for residents not to park their cars on the streets, if possible, because crews can do a better job of plowing when they don't have to maneuver around parked cars. He also reminded residents with storm drains on their property to clear the area around them so that melting snow will drain away more quickly.
Weed said that some residents were actually hampering cleanup efforts by throwing snow from their driveways into the road. "We're trying to plow the roads so this snow doesn't turn into ice," he said.
Other than service-wide delays on the Long Island Rail Road, Rockville Centre reported no major disruptions. However, the snow posed a threat to already hard-to-come-by commuter parking spaces. Wasson said the village has been working on clearing those lots.
Despite the fact that midterm exams were scheduled this week, Rockville Centre school district officials decided to close schools on Monday. Assistant Superintendent Robert Bartels said the decision was made Sunday night at around 10 p.m., primarily for safety reasons. "We didn't feel the buses could safely make it through the streets," he said. "The bus company representatives told us bus drivers were having a difficult time making turns without sliding into snow banks." The district wanted to allow more time for the village to clear the roads, but Bartels said that school would resume on Tuesday. He also said that Monday midterms were rescheduled for Jan. 31.
Rockville Centre firefighters were prepared to respond to emergencies during the storm. Fire Chief Peter Stuyvesant called in 100 firefighters Saturday night. In a written statement, he said, "As expected, we did get a number of calls as the storm raged." It's standard procedure for firefighters to wait out the storm in the firehouse to cut down on response times.
During the storm the department responded to carbon monoxide alarms and a small house fire that started when a homeowner tried to warm up frozen pipes. "The trucks got out fast despite the poor driving conditions," said First Assistant Chief Peter Grandazza. Stuyvesant asked that residents and business owners help out by digging out fire hydrants near their property. "The last thing you want to do at a fire is start digging out a frozen fire hydrant," he said.
Police Lt. Dennis Marcel said there were few accidents reported during the storm. "It was mostly uneventful," he said. "Most people heeded warnings and stayed inside."
Mercy Medical Center, however, reported an increase in injuries due to falls. Diane O'Doherty, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said that many of them resulted from slips on ice. She said that one person who was shoveling snow was admitted with cardiac arrest. Even so, O'Doherty said, the emergency room was quiet compared with previous storms, because people were well prepared and most did not venture out.
Rhino Chiropractic also reported increases in patients' complaints about back and shoulder pain after shoveling snow. Dr. John Gehnrich said his office, which is located on South Park Avenue, was busy on Monday morning. "I've noticed a lot of moms shoveling while their kids are out playing," said Gehnrich. He said that was a shame, because he remembers when kids used to make extra money shoveling sidewalks in the neighborhood.
Comments about this story? CCollora@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 221.
