Riverhead shopping center back in business after losing power for 3 days due to storm

The owner of a Riverhead shopping center that lost power during Saturday’s storms said their electricity wasn’t restored until late Tuesday afternoon, costing some businesses thousands of dollars.

Joe Tosini, owner of River Center Shopping Center at Ostrander Avenue and Old Country Road, said full power was restored Tuesday around 5:40 p.m. after a "frustrating" experience of getting in contact with PSEG Long Island.

"These tenants here lost their livelihood, and I'm the owner, so my responsibility is to make sure that I help them get their power back on," Tosini said.

The Saturday night storm left thousands without power on Sunday and roads closed to traffic because of downed trees and utility lines.

Tosini said the power went out after a tree fell onto power and electric cables. The storm caused bricks to fall from the building’s corner onto the pavement.

A photo Tosini took afterward showed the tree blocking traffic in both directions on Ostrander Avenue, its branches taller than a PSEG worker standing in front of it.

By Wednesday morning, PSEG had removed the tree from the road, but Riverhead police closed Ostrander Avenue between the property’s entrance and an entrance of a neighboring shopping center due to exposed and downed wires.

PSEG Long Island released a statement Wednesday saying it had "completed the work to repower the area on Monday. In order to reenergize the shopping center, the owners' electrician must be present to safely restore power. This coordination took place on Tuesday. Safety is a number one priority for PSEG Long Island and it recognizes that being without power for any length of time is a hardship for its customers."

Contacting PSEG Long Island

More than 11,600 customers across Long Island had no electricity just before noon Sunday. By Monday night, PSEG Long Island reported more than 3,000 customers without power.

One tenant, a Metro by T-Mobile store, had a sign displayed in Spanish telling customers to visit a different location because they had no internet. The sign was taken down by 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Tosini said he understood that PSEG was flooded with calls after the storm and appreciates crews getting the property's power back. However, he thinks PSEG's contact system needs to be more efficient, he said.

Each time he called PSEG’s hotline, a different representative answered; so, he had to repeat his request and information. This made things difficult to coordinate with Tosini’s electrician, who he said waited several hours for PSEG crews to arrive.

"Every time you call, you start from scratch," he said.

Daniela Saavedra, owner of Celeste Bakery, said her business was closed on Saturday and Sunday in observance of Independence Day.

She was out when PSEG alerted her of the outage. One of her employees then checked the property, confirming the damage.

"We had a lot of orders Monday and Tuesday, but ... we didn't even know we could come to the business. We were afraid because the power lines were all out on the ground," Saavedra said.

Saavedra, who has owned the bakery for nine years, said she was forced to close on Monday and Tuesday, leaving 22 employees without wages for two days.

She is still assessing the loss in revenue from canceled orders and having to throw out all her refrigerated products, but Saavedra said she estimated her two-day losses at $8,400.

The bakery reopened Wednesday morning.

Pharmacy fills prescriptions

Tom Serio, a pharmacist at Martin Drugs, said he came in an hour and a half before the 9 a.m. opening time on Wednesday to help fill a back order of about 200 prescriptions.

Pharmacy employees were unaware of the storm’s damage until another employee drove past the store on Sunday, a day they are usually closed.

Serio said about $60,000 worth of refrigerated medications, like insulin, were still cool on Sunday morning. Employees transferred the medications to an affiliate pharmacy to be properly stored and to "lose as little as possible," he said.

The pharmacy opened without power on Monday to provide refills to anyone that brought in their prescription bottles. Employees worked by a battery powered lamp and kept the door open to ensure anyone who needed their medicine would get it.

Since their online system was down, employees encouraged patrons to have new prescriptions filled at other pharmacies.

"Most people were understanding, but we certainly wouldn't want anybody to go without the medicine," Serio said.

The shopping strip also has a hair salon, a nail salon and a barbershop.

Esbin Aquino, manager of convenience store JD Grocery & Deli, said he purchased a generator after seeing the storm damage. This quick thinking allowed him to stay open since Sunday and not waste any products.

"Everything was good," Aquino said.