Severe thunderstorm warning for Nassau after widespread flooding on LI, outages in the thousands - Newsday

A terrible thunderstorm informing for Western Suffolk County and southeastern Nassau County done 2 p.m., according to the National Weather Service successful Upton.

The tempest is expected to bring dense rainfall and damaging winds with gusts up to 60 mph that could bring down trees and powerfulness lines. An earlier thunderstorm informing for confederate Nassau, Queens and Brooklyn has since expired.

And that's not all. Temperatures are expected to driblet 30 degrees Friday nighttime into Saturday morning, bringing a blast of arctic aerial that could permission overmuch of the portion covered with achromatic ice, officials said.

This follows immoderate of the worst flooding successful a decennary connected Long Island Friday, from retired East successful Southampton to Island Park connected Nassau's South Shore, causing havoc connected the roads and inundating neighborhoods and authorities parks.

Waterlogged areas connected Nassau’s South Shore included Oceanside near the mediate schoolhouse and East Rockaway wherever constabulary evacuated 1 idiosyncratic from a home, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said astatine a quality conference Friday successful Bethpage.

"It was precise unsafe this morning," Blakeman said. " … We had utmost flooding. If you enactment wrong successful your home, the likelihood is that it volition beryllium harmless but immoderate radical had important h2o successful their basements. Some streets were flooded. We're astir apt going to suffer a mates of cars. We had to extract immoderate radical from vehicles."

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said determination were astir 32 conveyance accidents Thursday nighttime into Friday greeting though lone 5 were storm-related.

"We besides had 104 calls for radical trapped successful their cars and truthful forth," Ryder said. "All of them person been taken attraction of nobody's been injured."

Suffolk constabulary did not spot a emergence successful 911 calls during the storm.

In Island Park, the blaring dependable of car alarms awoke Isabella Franzese, 53, at the Radcliffe Road home she and her hubby lone moved into Sunday. Moments later, a antheral connected a kayak floated by, checking connected neighbors. 

“I’m acceptable to determination to Arizona close now,” she said, eying what she described arsenic "a batch of spot damage" successful her area.

Elsewhere, "very high" levels of flooding were reported successful Southampton, particularly connected Dune Road. The entryway to the Ponquogue Bridge successful Hampton Bays had been closed, but reopened to postulation astir 10 a.m. Friday.

“I would surely accidental that 1 of the important things to enactment is that this is astir apt the astir magnitude of flooding that we’ve seen since Sandy,” said Southampton nationalist information and exigency absorption administrator Ryan Murphy.

Surging waters from the “immense wintertime storm” sprawling crossed astir of the nation were boosted by the caller moon — akin to Superstorm Sandy — but by midmorning tidal gauges were already falling, though the Peconic Bay country wasn't expected to highest until astir 11 a.m., Murphy said.

PSEG Long Island outages peaked astatine astir 28,000 customers without power, the inferior said. About 2,900 customers inactive did not person powerfulness arsenic of 1:20 p.m., mostly successful the towns of Southold, Brookhaven, Huntiongton, and Oyster Bay, according to the utility's outage map.

"I’m personally sucking down Dunkin’ java arsenic if my beingness depended connected it close now," said Nicole Alloway, 50, of Southold, who was waiting for the energy to spell backmost connected in her Bayview Peninsula neighborhood. "The batch adjacent to our location is wholly covered with h2o and the waves connected the Peconic Bay are reaching to the apical of my mom’s flagpole. It was a hellhole of a tempest overnight."

In Cutchogue, conscionable 5 oregon to the west, Debra Scurracchio, 65, was unscathed. 

"We are doing well," she said. "Right present the winds person stopped and the rainfall but we did suffer powerfulness this greeting astir 6am-ish but it came backmost close away."

'It is simply a mess'

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the tempest near a “mess” and a structure was being acceptable up connected Pacific Street astatine the Human Resources gathering for anyone displaced.

Among those effected by the tempest was a quadriplegic nonmigratory successful Orient who declined to permission but was moved upstairs to the 2nd level of their home.

“We person immoderate wires crossed the road," Russell said. "We person a mates of poles crossed the road. Also a batch of floods, a batch of puddling. It’s a messiness retired there. Things are starting to wide up but it is simply a mess."

Route 48 betwixt Boisseau Avenue and Albertson Lane was unopen down due to 3 downed poles and volition apt beryllium enactment closed for the full time until repairs are made, said Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley.

“I’m anticipating we are going to get immoderate much harm erstwhile the acold beforehand comes done and the winds prime up again and the temperatures drop," helium said.

The main said the causeway betwixt East Marion and Orient is successful information of flooding onto Route 25.

"Just astir anyplace on the Peconic Bay side, it’s beauteous flooded successful each the usually debased lying spots," Flatley said. "Greenport Village — the h2o is close up to the apical of the dock down by Claudio’s … The biggest occupation close present is our telephone poles down close now.”

The Meadowbrook State Parkway southbound of Sunrise Highway successful Hempstead was closed owed to flooding, authorities constabulary said. The Wantagh State Parkway — which had besides been partially closed — has since reopened.

In New York City, flooding had abated, the NYPD said, with conscionable 2 sections of large roads astatine slightest partially flooded: northbound Henry Hudson Parkway astatine 232 Street successful Manhattan was inactive blocked — and successful the Bronx, 1 lane of the southbound Major Deegan Expressway astatine Depot Place was inundated.

The Long Island Rail Road was forced to suspend work on its low-lying Long Beach branch. The Nassau Inter-County Express, oregon NICE Bus, was transverse honoring LIRR fares connected its N15 enactment betwixt Rockville Centre and Long Beach.

The railroad besides reported delays connected its Hempstead, Port Jefferson, West Hempstead, Montauk and Babylon lines. Some problems were owed to a breached obstruction astatine Jamaica, according to the LIRR, which outlined its prestorm preparations connected Thursday.

“Railroad crews person instrumentality connected manus to beryllium capable to respond rapidly arsenic conditions warrant — concatenation saws for clearing downed trees, pumps successful the lawsuit of flooded areas, identifying locations and availability of supplies for replacing damaged inferior poles and crossing gates,” the railroad said.

NICE Bus besides advised customers to expect delays and detours caused by the unsmooth weather, which “could make icy, unsafe roadworthy conditions.”

At Wantagh’s Jones Beach State Park, “there is important flooding,” George Gorman, determination manager of the New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said, with each the soil underwater from Fields 2 to 6. The boardwalk besides flooded.

“And past retired astatine Gilgo State Park, the h2o is up to the dunes," Gorman said. "At Robert Moses State Park, the full beachfront is covered with h2o but for the acold extremity of Field 2."

Orient State Park was unopen due to the fact that the entryway flooded, helium said.

Determining however overmuch erosion has occurred volition person to hold until the h2o recedes, Gorman said.

Flights, ferries canceled

“An immense wintertime tempest that has brought a frigid blast to overmuch of the continental United States on with impactful wintertime precipitation volition persist successful tracking crossed the eastbound U.S. today,” the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said.

“As of aboriginal Friday morning, implicit 240 cardinal radical wrong the United States are nether immoderate signifier of wintertime upwind informing oregon advisory,” it said, adding this was 1 of the “greatest extents” of these alerts ever issued.

Airlines had canceled 2,916 flights astir the nation shortly aft noon, and 2,916 were delayed — treble the aboriginal greeting total, according to the FlightAware website.

At LaGuardia Airport, 32% of its flights were canceled and 8% delayed. Cancellations deed 8% and delays crept up to 12% astatine Kennedy Airport.

Fire Island ferry canceled each evening work connected Friday, “due to forecasted terrible flooding and tempest conditions.”

Cliff Clark, CEO of the South Ferry that runs betwixt Shelter Island and North Haven, said the h2o was the highest he’s seen since perchance Superstorm Sandy. “It’s close adjacent to the highest we’ve had since Sandy,” helium said.

The archetypal vessel of the time near connected docket astatine 5:40 a.m. from Shelter Island and had “some beauteous dense seas to woody with,” Clark said.

There was nary work disruption, though the North Ferry betwixt Shelter Island and Greenport concisely paused work Friday greeting during the precocious tide.

The rainfall should commencement tapering disconnected by the afternoon, but a wind advisory volition beryllium successful effect until 10 p.m. Friday. Wind speeds of 20 to 30 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph, are expected.

And then bitter cold, coupled with winds gusting to 60 mph, will create upwind chills of -10 to zero opening Friday nighttime and lasting done Saturday’s Christmas Eve Day.

Because temperatures volition plummet truthful dramatically, sliding beneath freezing by the aboriginal evening, immoderate puddles could crystal over.

“Scattered” patches of achromatic crystal could nonstop cars skidding, particularly connected precocious ground including bridges, from Friday day to Saturday morning.

Fortunately, the upwind work said, factors limiting that hazard “are warmer crushed temperatures initially, beardown winds, and the aerial drying retired rapidly arsenic the acold aerial rushes in.”

Snow showers could make connected the East End from Friday evening done Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, some Saturday’s Christmas Eve Day, with an authoritative daytime precocious of 21 degrees, and Sunday’s Christmas, with a daytime precocious of 27, volition beryllium sunny.

Thankfully for cold-haters, aft different frigid nighttime Sunday — with a nighttime debased of 17 degrees forecast — thermometers volition creep higher during the workweek, rising from 31 connected Monday to 45 by Thursday morning.