Long Island Slammed with Winter Blizzard

On the day after Christmas, the skies opened and blanketed Long Island, NY with snow. Over a foot of snow, actually. The blizzard spanned the entire 120 miles of Long Island and left well over a foot of snow in its wake. Some areas on Long Island were buried under 20 inches of the white stuff, making post-holiday travel a nightmare.

Reaching strengths of up to 80MPH, wind gusts created storm surges that caused massive damage to waterfront homes on the north and south shores of Long Island. Many homes on the East End of Long Island are in danger of slipping into the Atlantic Ocean or Long Island Sound. One home in Montauk worth over a million dollars had its foundation washed away by the angry ocean.

The snow became so heavy that even part of a roof of a Rite Aid store in Sayville caved in. Many side roads across Long Island still have yet to be plowed. The roads that are are covered by a sheet of ice, slush and/or packed snow, still making roads quite trecherous to drive.

All four local airports (Islip MacArthur, John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark) were shut down for hours, creating major delays in air travel all over the world. Flight schedules were still riddled with delays and cancellations through Wednesday (12/29/10) morning. Travelers that were supposed to leave on December 26th are still trying to get home by New Year's Eve.

Several towns on Long Island declared a state of emergency, including Huntington, Islip and Brookhaven. By doing so, FEMA will give financial aid to the towns so that they can cover costs of emergency personnel and highway crews for snow removal and storm related issues. The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) totaled $4 million to its already over-extended 2010 storm budget, which is already over budget by $100 million. The majority of the power outages were in Suffolk County, the bulk being in the Town of Babylon on the south shore.

Fortunately, the blizzard occured during winter recess on Long Island, so there were no school cancellations. Instead, children were able to play in the snow and enjoy the winter, even though it caused nightmare driving conditions for their parents. By Thursday, all major roads and the majority of side roads throughout Long Island were cleared of snow. Traffic conditions were expected to return to normal no later than Friday, New Year's Eve.