North Hempstead Storm Update: Full Recovery To Take Weeks

TOWN OF NORTH HEMPSTEAD, NY — Thousands of homes and businesses on Long Island were still without electricity Thursday as trees and branches littered roads and yards and power lines remained down. In the wake of Tropical Storm Isaias, full recovery from its fallout is expected to take several weeks, Town of North Hempstead officials said in a Wednesday evening update.

"The Town of North Hempstead sustained significant damage on Tuesday from Tropical Storm Isaias," Supervisor Judi Bosworth said. "While the storm came and went quickly, its impact on our community was not dissimilar to the destruction wrought by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. We are grateful that there were no reports of losses of life, and our Town crews are working diligently to ensure the continued safety of our residents."

The Town's Highway Department continues to work on removing debris and clearing roadways, but full recovery is expected to take a few more weeks, Bosworth said.

Residents who have tree limbs and debris on their property can dispose of them by following normal yard-waste pick-up rules. Any yard-waste that is too large or in excess of the rules will be accepted at the Solid Waste Management Authority's Sunday Residential Drop-Off at 999 West Shore Rd. from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Upcoming Sunday Residential Drop-Off dates include Aug. 9, Aug. 23, Sept. 6 and Sept. 20.

In addition, with many still without power due to the storm, PSEG-LI told the Town that they expect to restore electricity for 80 percent of customers by the end of the day Thursday. The remaining residents without power will see their electricity fixed by Saturday, though a few individual issues may remain after that.

The PSEG-LI Outage Map, which reports outages in the community, can be found online. PSEG-LI anticipates that their website’s outage map will be up to date with restoration times by Thursday morning.

PSEG said they are seeing an improvement in their call center operations since Tuesday, and are continuing to urge residents to call PSEG-LI at 1-800-490-0075 with power-related issues.

PSEG opened four customer outreach centers Wednesday to provide residents with free water and ice. There are locations in Roslyn, Hicksville, Greenlawn and Brentwood. The centers are located at the following addresses:

• Roslyn, 250 Willis Ave. (Roslyn Heights)
• Hicksville, 175 E. Old Country Road
• Greenlawn, 288 Pulaski Rd.
• Brentwood, 1650, Islip Ave

The Town has also opened a cooling center at Clinton G. Martin Park in New Hyde Park from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the end of the week.

Port Washington Library will offer outdoor charging and WiFi access from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday. Beginning at 2 p.m., the PWPL will open for members of the public to come inside for 45 minutes at a time. The library will offer some indoor charging areas, but will maintain capacity limits to enable social distancing amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Due to damage sustained at North Hempstead Beach Park, Thursday evening's Concert by Candle Light has been postponed and will be rescheduled for later this summer.