Nassau Exec Urges Continued Caution As More Flooding, Downed Trees And Wires Are Expected

GARDEN CITY, NY — Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman at a briefing on Saturday in Garden City told residents not to get too comfortable with the downswing in the storm, warning there is still danger ahead as the region heads into two more high tide cycles at full moon.

"Right now we are in a lull," he told reporters at the briefing broadcast by Pix 11 from the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence. "Do not take this as what you can predict for later today and tomorrow. What happens is there is a lull in the weather, and then the storm kicks up very quickly."

“It can drop a tremendous amount of rain, and the wind gusts can come out of nowhere and start gusting at 50 miles an hour. So, because there's a lull right now, don't take it that you can go out and go about your normal activities again. We are asking people to stay off the roadways unless they have to be on the roadways. Use caution. Don't drive through water.”

Officials have seen vehicles stuck in water, which is hard to gauge how deep it is and to get through.

“We've seen today, as I traveled around the county, cars that are stuck, that are trying to get through water,” he said. “You can't predict how deep it is. Assume the worst. You don't want to get stuck in water, because it'll ruin your car, and more importantly, it could be a safety hazard to you. So until tomorrow afternoon, we are continuing to ask people to stay off the road unless they have to be on the road.”

Officials have seen pockets of coastal flooding in areas, like Long Beach, Island Park, Cedarhurst, Merrick, Freeport, East Rockaway, and Massapequa and are continuing to monitor the situation, he said.

“High tide was at 8 a.m. this morning on the south shore of Nassau County,” he said. “It was a very high tide where I live. It was up to the bulkheads, the top of the bulkheads. What we're concerned about is whether or not enough water has receded from our bays, and therefore, when we hit high tide again at 8 p.m. tonight, whether or not that will have a stacking effect, which could prove to create a more serious coastal flooding situation.”

He urged caution in those areas, and also for residents to park their cars on higher elevations and especially electric cars, which can catch fire.

There are isolated instances of closings around the county, with the most recent ones on Shore Road and Plandome Road, in the Port Washington area. There are also road closures on the south shore of Oyster Bay, and some on the south shore of the Town of Hempstead, like Lawson Boulevard, which was closed on the border of East Rockaway and Oceanside, and Long Beach Road was also closed in Island Park due to high water.

He urged caution around Peninsula Boulevard and Rockaway Turnpike. He also noted there are down trees throughout the county, both on the South Shore, and mid-Island, and on the North Shore.

As of 12:30 p.m., there were about 5,000 outages across Nassau, affecting about 12,000 customers, but PSEG was working “very diligently” to get the power back on, but with caution as workers cannot go up in the buckets and repair the power lines from up above,” he said.

The Long Island Railroad is close to schedule, but had a glitch in the Island Park area with a problem with one of the switches that was cleared up. He also noted there were delays on the NICE bus and detours.

Only four homeless people needed to be sheltered at the old family courthouse in Westbury, he said.

He reiterated previous calls for residents to maintain their flashlights and not to use candles.

“There could be power outages,” he said. “The wind is going to kick up again, and of course, at high tide at 8 p.m. there will be more coastal flooding.”