Hurricane Irene....Newsday
Front Pages
Hurricane Irene....Newsday
Front Pages
Smith Street, Patchogue, NY
Irene swamped
neighborhoods, upended trees and turned out the lights for hundreds of thousands
of Long Island utility customers, many of whom may go days without power.
With rail systems still shuddering back to life and some roads impassable or
without working traffic signals, it remained unclear just when -- and how --
many in the region would get back to work Monday.
The Long Island Rail Road will restore service to more than half of its lines
beginning Monday morning after removing trees and utility poles from its tracks,
officials said.
While the storm was not as destructive as many had feared, emergency response
officials assessing the impact Sunday reported damage throughout the region.
"The worst is behind us," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said at a news conference in Long
Beach.
But power outages -- Long Island's worst in 26 years -- and flooding remained
the top concerns in Irene's aftermath, he said.
In Long Beach, storm surge ripped the lifeguard station on the beach from its
mooring and swept it up against the boardwalk. Parts of Baldwin and Freeport,
and communities farther east along the South Shore were also inundated.
The storm swept water a half-mile into the Village of Mastic Beach, which
remained under mandatory evacuation Sunday night. Roads connecting some
low-lying North Shore communities were cut off for hours. In the Hamptons, Dune
Road remained closed Sunday night.
At least 22 people in eight states died during Irene, including an unidentified
man who Suffolk officials say drowned in the waters off Shirley Sunday afternoon
while surfing on a board.
Forecast to touch down in New York as a Category 1 hurricane, Irene weakened to
a tropical storm and made landfall in Brooklyn with winds of 65 mph at 9 a.m.,
the National Weather Service said.
Two hours later, the storm moved on to Connecticut.
The bands of blinding rains drenched Long Island for more than 12 hours, dumping
up to 6 inches locally. Winds gusted as high as 91 mph in Sayville.
Brutal winds snapped trees and light poles, taking down power lines, crashing
into homes and crushing vehicles in coastal and inland areas alike.
Storm surge rolled in with high tides to pummel the shoreline. It swept over sea
walls and bulkheads and flooded low-lying neighborhoods from Long Beach to
Orient. Erosion was reported at state parks and beaches. Waves washed over Fire
Island in half a dozen spots.
"We have lost critical dune height along the entire Islip Town oceanfront of
Fire Island," said Rick Gimbl, the town's director of emergency management.
