RSS 2.0 FeedSeptember 1, 2011, Bellmore Life
Local towns pummeled
Some express gratitude that damage could've been worse.
The Bellmores and surrounding communities were hit hard by the furry of Hurricane Irene from Saturday night into Sunday morning, felling hundreds of trees, flooding basements and roadways, and knocking out power to thousands.
Winds during the storm’s landfall in New York City at approximately 9 a.m. Sunday morning were clocked at 75 miles per hour, making it a tropical storm by that time.
As of Tuesday morning, some 35,720 customers in the Town of Hempstead were without power, according the the LIPA website. Power outages were sporadic throughout Bellmore, and included large sections along Centre Avenue south of Sunrise Highway, Bellmore Avenue south of Merrick Road and sections of Merrick Road east and west.
Depending on the area, many in Bellmore were thankful they didn’t get hit harder. Dominic Trotta and John Brush, living near Mill Pond, said they both had worried about power outages preventing them from pumping water from flooded basements. But power outages didn’t occur in their neighborhood, even as trees were blown down at Mill Pond and the weir, or drain into the canal, was overflowing at one point.
Don Farmer was out cutting branches from a large limb that fell on his front yard from a tree next door as quickly as the winds were dying down. “We were told it was going to be a ferocious storm, and it wasn’t as bad as predicted,” he told Bellmore Life.
David Weiss, a Bellmore attorney on Bedford Avenue who lives south of Merrick Road, told Bellmore Life he evacuated to his son’s home in North Valley Stream. “When we returned home on Sunday, around 1 p.m., most of the block was pretty much under water.”
He added that there was no structural damage to his home and no flooding, because his house is on a steep incline. Power went out, however.
Businesses in Bellmore have had mixed success. Dave Banner, owner of Banner station at the corner of Bellmore Avenue and Merrick Road, said he has no power but is using a back-up generator to repair cars. “I have no gas, but I’m open for service,” he said.
Maria, a day manager at Stop &Shop on Jerusalem Avenue in North Bellmore, said the store was without power for 18 hours, but “We have a good refrigeration system, and lost no provisions or food.” The supermarket is open for business.
Tim, a customer service representative at King Kullen on Sunrise Highway, took a different tone, however. Having been without power for since 9 a.m. on Sunday, the supermarket is losing its frozen foods. “We have a refrigeration truck in the bay that is keeping foods cold,” he said. He added that Boar’s Head brand trucks came and retrieved many provisions to keep them cool to save them.
He said the store is using power generators to remain open.
Calls to Jen’s Chinese Restaurant in Bellmore could not be completed. A stretch of stores on Merrick Road were without power by press time.
The Bellmore Presbyterian Church told parishioners on its outside display board that it would be closed on Sunday, but reminded them to “Pray at home.”
Meanwhile, in Wantagh, David and Linda Halperin on Ewell Place were bracing for a long time without power. Their front tree fell over into the next door neighbor’s yard, snapping power lines in the process.
The first trunk of the split-trunk tree fell at about 12:30 a.m. Mr. Halperin said, while the second trunk fell at about 2:30 a.m.
“We called LIPA and they called us back to let us know they would get into our area. They seemed thankful we had called them,” said Mrs. Halperin.
Even with the threat of a prolonged power outage, the Halperins expressed gratitude there wasn’t more damage to their property from the hurricane.
In Merrick, near the corner of Park Avenue and Camp Avenue, the Savoca family had a rude awakening at 3 a.m. when a tree next door fell onto their Lexus and Acura cars in the driveway. “I moved one car out of the street into the driveway because I thought another tree could fall on it,” said Michele Savoca.
Huddled in the basement of their house against the hurricane winds lashing the house with ferocious rains, the Savocas were first startled at 1 a.m. when they heard the “awful” crack of a tree crash down on a North Merrick Fire Department truck while it was stopped at a red light on Park Avenue and Camp Avenue. That tree was in the yard of their other next door neighbor.
“They just cut the trees off the truck about an hour ago [1 p.m.],” said Mark Savoca, a Little League coach. “I didn’t even know it was a firetruck under the tree,” he continued.
Even with the damage to their cars, the Savocas also expressed gratitude that the damage was not more severe.
On Silver Birch Drive in Merrick a family who requested anonymity said their tall, 50-foot tree near the roadside fell down and across the entire street at about 8:10 a.m. on Sunday morning.
“We’re just glad it didn’t fall over onto the house,” the wife said. The husband told Hempstead Town crew members that the tree was still there at 8 a.m. when he looked out. But it wasn’t when he looked out again soon after.
Another tree fell across the entire street at the corner of Smith Street and Merokee Drive, scene of similar mayhem less than two weeks ago when Smith Pond flooded, knocking out lights to the area and flooding backyards and basements.
Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg was with constituents discussing damage, and was joined by Derek Donnelly, president of the Merrick Gables Association.
Ricky, manager of The Jade Dynasty Restaurant in the Stop & Shop mall in Merrick, told this newspaper that he was not hurt by closure of his business for two days. “We lost no frozen foods while we were closed.”
