Drenching showers relieve parts of LI, flood others

Drenching showers brought relief as well as flooding Saturday to parts of Long Island, which has seen just trace amounts of rain since June 22 and withered last week in a heat wave.

Some of the heaviest downpours came around 1:30 p.m., when thunderstorms dumped between 1 and nearly 4 inches from Islip to East Meadow, the National Weather Service said. Through the day, the Island saw isolated heavy showers that were expected to continue into the evening.

Laurie Farber, a Jericho educator with a vegetable garden, said she was "thrilled to see the rain." An American beech in front of her home planted by her mother had been turning yellow and shedding leaves.

"I've never seen it stressed this much," said Farber, 56. "I'm hoping, hoping this rain will make it survive."

In Garden City and Levittown, flash floods submerged some cars to the tops of their tires. On Hyacinth Road in Levittown, rising water trapped Donald Cervantes' son, 17, and daughter, 22, in his Pontiac Grand Prix as the two drove home, Cervantes said Saturday night. Neighbors pulled them out through the passenger side window.

"It actually was a little scary," said Cervantes, 52. "Ultimately, I was happy they were able to get out of the car." He had the car towed and believes it's ruined.

By 7 p.m., some parts of the Island had been soaked, primarily central Nassau and parts of western Suffolk - while others barely got wet.

In East Meadow, the weather service reported 3.9 inches. Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip had 1.18 inches; its previous record for July 10 was 0.23 inches, in 1989. Just 0.14 inches fell at Brookhaven Airport in Shirley and in Westhampton Beach.

"We were all kind of hoping for the rainfall," said David Stark, a meteorologist at the service's Upton office. "It's good relief."

Below-normal June rainfall meant hot, frustrating days in dusty fields for some farmers.

"We need it bad," said Joe Gergela, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau. "The farmers have been working very hard to irrigate, to water the crops, but that was a losing proposition in many cases."

For Sal Mortilla, owner of Landscaping Unlimited in Farmingville, the rain meant not having to worry as much about whether clients were properly hydrating their plants.

"It's certainly welcome," said Mortilla, 64. "Hopefully, we get more of it. We've been pretty drought-stricken."

With the rain, water districts might no longer restrict lawn watering, car washing and other nonessential uses, said Dennis Kelleher, public relations chairman of the Long Island Water Conference.

"I think on Monday morning, we will make the announcement that all the irrigation restrictions will be lifted," Kelleher said. "But I'll have to check with all the superintendents to make sure everything is getting back to normal."

Not all Long Islanders were happy to have rain, including Diana Cohen of Great Neck, whose home was damaged when three trees fell on it in a powerful thunderstorm June 24.

"It hasn't rained since the storm, but when it does, I know it will leak inside the house. We're just praying it doesn't," Cohen said Saturday afternoon as storms approached.

Cohen faces a 30 percent chance of rain Sunday. Temperatures will be in the low 80s.

With Rachel Bryson-Brockmann and Nomaan Merchant