What was that? That’s what many Smithtown residents were saying after a storm passed through the Town during the early morning on Tuesday. Instead of alarm clocks, we were awakened by thunder, rain, wind and hail the size of golf balls. The lightning was almost non-stop. When it ended most people were stunned by the amount of damage the storm brought.
While some areas of the Town were spared, Smithtown, Kings Park and St. James were hit hard. 25A was closed for at least eight hours as tree limbs and wires were cleared from the road. The Landing Golf Course had a huge tree upended and many more down. Tree limbs and debris could be seen scattered all over the course.
Thousands of Smithtown residents lost power. At one point there were over five thousand homes without power. As of this posting there are 289 without power. The LIRR canceled service from Pt. Jeff out east due to downed trees and wires on the tracks.
On my street a huge tree limb crushed the roof of a home. Fortunately, no one was injured. Wires were hanging and touching the roadway. Kings Park resident, Maureen Ledden Rossi reported that there were police officers with bullhorns announcing to residents the importance of staying away from downed wires.
Traffic lights were out, there was no power to many town buildings, or phone service at town buildings.
The storm was powerful.
But, the real show began after the storm with the cleanup. Town Departments performed professionally and with purpose. Public Safety, Parks, and Highway were the heroes of the storm. Emergency preparedness is not something that happens during an event, it is the result of an ongoing search to do do things better, minimize damage, and to get everything back to normal. No doubt the departments are looking at their response to Tuesday’s storm and leaving no stone (or tree limb) unturned to see if there are changes warranted.
What was that Tuesday morning? That was a storm that Smithtown wasn’t expecting, but was prepared for. Congratulations Smithtown.
Pat