Mastic Beach residents deal with power outage

For customers on one Mastic Beach street impacted by an outage, the two- to six-day wait to respond to an outage due to a downed tree on wires was too long.

Jason Iveschich said after trying 911 and LIPA's hotline to no avail, he and a neighbor took a chainsaw to tree limbs and branches hanging beneath a tree resting on wires in a lot across the street from his house.

"We didn't want it falling and hurting anybody," he said, adding that his children play in the lot.

LIPA has cautioned customers to treat all wires as if they are live.

Iveschich, of Dahlia Drive, said LIPA told his wife restoration could take two to six days.

At the Mastic Beach Yacht Club, meanwhile, members Bob Ursum and Al Rebentisch spent Monday cleaning up and tossing spoiled food as power remained out.

They praised Mastic Beach Village for sending private tree-trim crews out to remove hundreds of fallen tree limbs, but were critical of utility companies' responses.

"We lost a lot of food," said Rebentisch.