In Wantagh, a number of firsts because of Sandy

Two things happened this week for the first time in Arline Vitale’s 51 years of living on Long Island: water flooded her home and she’s had to rely on someone else’s cooking.

The 76-year-old Wantagh grandmother threw out hundreds of dollars of food from her freezer and hasn’t been able to operate her electric stove for the last four days. She was among the dozens who grabbed a hot meal at the Red Cross’ emergency feeding station in Seaford’s Cedar Creek Park on Wednesday.

“People in this area never had to take food like this,” Vitale said, holding a to-go dinner box with plates full of roast beef, broccoli and rice to share with her husband. “This is like something you see that happens in other parts of the country, not here.”