Storms pack a punch across Long Island

A powerful storm with heavy rain and howling winds slammed Long Island Wednesday, downing trees, knocking out power to thousands and putting a crimp in several holiday celebrations.

The brunt of the storm pushed across Long Island just before 3:30 p.m. with wind gusts up to 55 mph, the National Weather Service said.

The storm downed power lines, leaving more than 15,000 residents without electricity, stalled air travel and forced the weather service to issue a special weather statement for Nassau and Suffolk counties. As of 7 Wednesday night, 3,300 residents remained without power.

Eileen Peters, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said there was some flooding on the Long Island Expressway and Northern State Parkway in Nassau, and Sunrise Highway in Suffolk, but the roads had mostly been drained by 6 p.m. There was also a downed tree across the ramp at Exit 14E on Route 135.

"The wallop of this storm was midday and I think that was fortunate for all the people who have to commute on the roads," Peters said. "We were able to clear things quickly."

The storm washed out the holiday lighting ceremony at the Big Duck in Flanders, a county official said. A menorah lighting scheduled for 6 Wednesday night - the first night of Hanukkah - on the Village Green in Huntington was moved indoors to Town Hall because of the weather, town officials said.

A New York State trooper was involved in an crash on the northbound Meadowbrook State Parkway at Exit M2 at 3:32 p.m.; it was cleared by 6 p.m.

Some Long Island Rail Road trains were canceled because of debris on the tracks on the North Shore and several trains were delayed in both directions.

Fire officials in Nassau said there were more than 40 calls about downed power lines within a two-hour span early Wednesday afternoon, with wires down in East Meadow, Westbury, Syosset, Roslyn, East Norwich, Port Washington, Williston Park and Elmont. Suffolk fire officials said downed lines were mostly in the Huntington area.

Officials said the number of calls was so overwhelming at the height of the storm that LIPA stopped responding to requests for emergency crews.

Baird-Streeter said that as of 3 p.m., LIPA had extra emergency crews in the field.

"We have all hands on deck," she said. "Our overhead line personnel, tree trim personnel . . . they'll all be out there until all customers are restored."

The tote board at Long Island MacArthur Airport showed one cancellation - a US Airways flight to Philadelphia - and delays on flights of up to two hours.

FAA officials reported nearly 51/2-hour delays on flights at LaGuardia Airport during the storm and almost 4-hour delays at Kennedy Airport.

Forecasters are calling for clear, sunny skies today, though temperatures are expected to dip below freezing in many suburbs overnight.