Long Islanders getting heated over hot, sticky days, with more to come

John Giurasi's brow was drenched in sweat Wednesday as he rolled another shipment of icy cold drinks into a Jamesport deli.

Giurasi operates a Pepsi distribution truck that delivers bottled beverages from Amityville to Greenport, keeping Long Islanders hydrated during the blistering heat wave that has blanketed the East Coast.

Finding relief in refrigerated deli cases and ice cold Gatorade, Giurasi said he's making do.

"Barely," he said with a smile. 

He's not alone. Across Long Island, from Nassau's South Shore to Suffolk's East End, people sought any opportunity Wednesday to escape the scorching temperatures that hit the mid-90s by midday. 

The heat index, which measures heat and humidity, cleared triple digits in some locations, with more of the same expected Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Upton.

The weather service issued a heat advisory and air quality alert for the island through Thursday. Then again, just a few moments outside was all the warning most Long Islanders needed.

"It’s too hot," said Vendula Hunt, of Melville, who took her children Holden, 6, and Hensley, 3, to the new Huntington Manor Spray Park, where they cooled down under a giant baseball waterfall. "We came out early because in the afternoon, it's unbearable and we usually stay inside."

Meanwhile, Cameron Albert held down the fort at Adventure Paddleboards on Shinnecock Bay in East Quogue as a warm breeze wafted across his dockside concession.

Customers were sparse, as is typical for midweek at the Hamptons location. Weekends are the busy time. He was ready either way. 

"I'm packing a lot of cold water," Albert said. "I prepared myself." 

'No big deal'

Russell Belmonte was working on a road crew making repairs on County Road 51 in East Moriches when the temperature hit 90. The air smelled of roughed-up asphalt but the Patchogue resident said it was all in a day's work.

"It's my every day so it's no big deal for us," Belmonte said of the heat.

At Silly Lily Fishing Station in East Moriches, owner Jay Scott said the typical midweek doldrums had been replaced by a doubling of reservations and walk-ins for people who wanted to rent boats. 

“It’s usually dead midweek,” he said. “We had no reservations scheduled, then the heat set in and people keep calling and asking if we have boats."

Despite the searing heat, there was not a customer in sight at White Rapids Pool Supplies, a roadside shop in Westhampton.

"Would you want to go shopping on a day like this?" asked co-owner Debbie Pettit. "People stay home in their air conditioning." 

As the temperatures climbed Wednesday morning, the power went out for two hours on Guenther Court in Baldwin. 

"It's just really hot," said Mike Williams, 17, as he walked across the street to grab a drink. "I'm just trying to stay in the shade."

At the Merrick Senior Center, South Shore residents found relief playing bingo while eating fudge pops in the air conditioning.

"The weather is awful, but not unexpected," said Joan Sculli, 81. "We're trying to do anything active in the early morning and we used the pool yesterday."

"What else could we want?" added Marge Karchinski, 102, of East Meadow. "We're lucky to have a place like this."

Nearby at the Baldwin Senior Center, Joan Melendez, 73, was among a dozen seniors playing Pokeno and watching television.

"We're sitting in the air conditioning and not going anywhere," said Melendez, of Baldwin. "It's horrible outside."

'We had to cool off'

Long Islanders hoping for a break from the heat wave will have to keep hoping.

Thursday's forecast calls for temperatures in the low to mid 90s and the heat index approaching 100 in some western Nassau locations. 

There's also the potential for isolated thunderstorms, with strong and damaging winds possible from the afternoon through early evening, the weather service said.

A true break from the heat may not come until Monday, when temperatures are forecast to dip into the mid 80s.

Wednesday's scorcher sent Kerim Kfuri, 45, of Garden City, racing to Marvel Ice Cream in Lido Beach after a day in the sun at Nickerson Beach — free of any shark sightings.

“It was just way too hot so we had to cool off,” he said. “When it's hot like today, you take your chances with the sharks."