Community Corner

Photo Gallery: Sandy's Wrath

Though Sandy blew out of the area early Tuesday, she left quite a mess in her wake.

Most traffic lights are out around the village. Gusting winds uprooted a countless number of trees all over, toppling cars, damaging homes and blocking major roadways.

Village administrator Bob Schoelle said its too early to tally all the havoc Sandy's caused but told Patch Tuesday that the damage is the worst he's experienced in Garden City.

"Our crews are progressing well toward opening all of the major roadways to enable access by emergency vehicles. The problem is the volume of mature stately trees that have fallen across roads and onto homes," he said.

Fifteenth Street alone lost at least seven mature oak trees. One resident said his block looks like "a war zone." Approximately two weeks ago the curbs were replaced and many of the large roots were cut. Coupled with high, gusting winds, the 100+ year old trees came down.

The police department responded to more than 200 incidents that included trees down, traffic light malfunctions, power outages, wellness checks, dangerous conditions, damaged residences, alarms, medical aided cases and auto accidents attributed to the storm, commisisoner Kenneth Jackson told Patch Tuesday.

"The department coordinated responses to emergencies with the Fire, DPW and Parks Departments. Trees branches struck and damaged two police vehicles as they were responding to calls. No one was injured. Two firemen were injured when a tree struck the cab of a fire truck. On many occasions, officers dodged falling trees or falling telephone poles with live electric lines as they assisted residents with their emergencies."

A home on Kenwood Road was completely destroyed due to a fire Monday evening. Patch is unable to confirm at this time if there are any injuries.

LIPA is reporting that more than 16,000 households in Garden City are without power as of Tuesday afternoon with reports stating power may not be back on for at least five days.

Some of the downtown area is up and running though, including on Seventh Street Key Food and Dunkin Donuts as well as Wayne's Pharmacy, which still has D batteries for sale according to a sign posted on the front door.


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