Community Corner

Hempstead Town Pummeled By Major Rain and Wind Storm

More than 400 homes still without power in Garden City as of 10 p.m. Sunday evening.

Pummeled by driving rain and winds in excess of 65 miles per hour, Hempstead Town is responding to a bruising storm. Hempstead's highway and parks crews are in the process of clearing over 250 downed trees that are on town rights of way, town property and blocking town roadways.

Hempstead Town appears to be the hardest hit township on Long island, comprising more power outages (52,397) than all other Long Island towns combined. In Garden City, 496 homes were still without power as of 10 p.m. Sunday evening.

"We're responding forcefully to this major weather event, working to make roadways passable and safe for pedestrians and motorists," said Supervisor Kate Murray. "Fourteen tree crews are working in coordination with LIPA officials to help neighbors in the township in the wake of last night's storm."

Find out what's happening in Garden Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hempstead Town workers have responded to 200 locations, clearing trees from roadways and addressing other dangerous conditions. The remaining 60 trees require coordination with LIPA staff to ensure the safety of workers and residents as trees are entangled in or near downed LIPA power lines. In fact, Supervisor Murray has been in contact with Kevin Law, president and CEO of LIPA, coordinating efforts to respond as quickly as possible to electric and tree removal issues.

"LIPA is working around the clock to address all power outages from last night's treacherous storm," said Law. "We have already achieved restoration to 30,000 homes in Hempstead since the height of the storm and will continue to work with Supervisor Murray and all other government leaders and safety officials as we continue to restore power back to our customers as quickly and safely as possible."

Find out what's happening in Garden Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At one point this morning, Hempstead residents totaled over 52,000 of the over 90,000 outages across Long Island. Indeed, more than one-in-five Hempstead residents have been without electricity. As LIPA addresses those outages, Murray explained that Town of Hempstead crews are available to assist and coordinate efficient, safe and effective power restoration and tree removal.

"I have authorized all necessary and qualified personnel to work at restoring town roadways and removing felled trees," said Murray. "Town personnel and LIPA workers are coordinating their efforts to return normalcy to our communities rapidly and safely."

Residents who wish to report downed trees on Town of Hempstead roadways and rights of way can call 516-538-1900.


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