What you need to know post-Irene on Wednesday

TRANSPORTATION

Long Island Rail Road

Eight of the railroad's 11 lines were running during Tuesday morning's commute, although stations between Huntington and Port Jefferson, and between Ronkonkoma and Greenport were not being served. Officials would not predict when service would be fully restored. Visit mta.info for service and schedule updates.

Roadways

Debris, emergency construction and signal malfunctions created scattered closures on Routes 110 and 25A, among other places. Drivers should check the New York State Department of Transportation website, informny.com for road conditions and traffic alerts.

Bus service

Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses, which include Long Island Bus in Nassau, were expected to be running close to normal, officials said. Check service and schedules at mta.info or call 516-228-4000. For Suffolk County Transit information, check sct-bus.org or call 631-852-5200 for updates.

Airports

All area airports have reopened, but airlines were still catching up on canceled flights. Travelers should check with their airlines for updated information on specific flights.

Bridges and tunnels

All area bridges and tunnels have returned to normal. Updated info can be found at mta.info

Fire Island ferries

The ferries to Fire Island resumed passenger and freight service Tuesday morning at 7 a.m.
 

STATE PARKS

While some state parks remain closed, the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has reopened Brentwood, Camp Hero, Heckscher (Field 8 and picnic area only), Hither Hills, Montauk Downs, Montauk Point, Robert Moses (Fields 2 and 3), Captree and Montauk-area parks, Sag Harbor Golf Course and Walt Whitman State Historic Site.

Wednesday, additional parks will reopen. They are Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Connetquot River, and Caumsett where no fishing will be allowed and woodland trails are closed; and Planting Fields, where Coe Hall, the Hay Barn and woodland trails will be closed.

Check with the regional state park office for the latest information at 631-669-1000.

MEDICATION REFRIGERATION

With more than 50 common medications requiring refrigeration, Long Islanders who have been prescribed everything from insulin to eye drops may wonder whether their medications will survive a power outage.

Susan Wilk of the Diabetes Resource Coalition in Riverhead said insulin could remain unrefrigerated for 28 days. And Dr. Terry Gray, a certified diabetes educator at Nassau University Medical Center, noted that maintaining insulin at room temperature -- up to 86 degrees Fahrenheit -- causes no harm to the drug.

But Marcelle Levy-Santoro, NUMC's pharmacy director, said not all drugs are as hardy as insulin. There are exceptions, such as Xalatan, a glaucoma drug that remains viable for six weeks.

Levy-Santoro said steps could be taken -- regardless of the drug -- to weather an outage:

Use a cooler or gel pack, but don't allow medications to freeze because that destroys viability.

Use a thermometer. The usual range for keeping medicines cool is 36 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit

Contact your pharmacist if you're uncertain how long your medications have been unrefrigerated

Be aware of your medicine's shelf life: Several can go only seven days unrefrigerated, including calcitonin for osteoporosis and Aranesp, a drug that combats anemia in cancer patients. Others, like Procrit, another anti-anemia drug, can remain effective up to 14 days, as can the antibiotics erythromycin and amoxicillin.

LIPA

Power outages remained across large sections of Long Island. As of Tuesday, about half of the more than 500,000 customers who lost power had been restored. LIPA expected 90 percent of all outages to be restored by Friday. Outages can be reported by calling 800-490-0075

BLOOD DONATIONS

After storm-related power failures spoiled 2,000 units of donated blood, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials called on New Yorkers to roll up their sleeves to help. Harvey Schaffler, an official at the nonprofit New York Blood Center, which serves the city, Long Island and the rest of the greater metropolitan area, said the blood supply is less than two days for three critical negative blood types: O-negative, B-negative and A-negative. Donors can call 800-933-2566 to find out how to give.

TRAFFIC SIGNALS

In Nassau County, officials estimated that 100 traffic signals were out because they were awaiting electricity restoration. In Suffolk County, 24 county officers were guiding traffic through 15 intersections because of non-working traffic signals, said Dan Aug, a spokesman for county Executive Steve Levy. The number of traffic lights that were not working was "significantly more" than the number of intersections at which officers were directing traffic, Aug said.

INTERNET, PHONE AND TELEVISION SERVICE

Cablevision is working to "resolve significant service interruptions, which are still primarily related to the loss of electrical power," the company said in a statement.

In most cases, once power is restored, cable service should be back after a few minutes of rebooting, said Jim Maiella, a spokesman. However, if the Cablevision equipment that serves the area is located in a different zone where power has not yet been restored, cable service would still be out. Consumers are then advised to call customer service. Cablevision owns Newsday.

For Verizon landline telephone and FiOS services, John Bonomo, director of media relations, said there are sporadic problems on Long Island, but "there are no large-scale outages."

Neither company could cite how many customers on Long Island have lost service.

INSURANCE

Suffolk residents will be able to receive assistance with filing homeowners insurance claims over the next three days. Officials with the New York State Insurance Department will be in the Plaza at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday answering questions about filing claims and finding temporary housing and food vouchers.

Residents should bring copies of their homeowners insurance documents, said Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy.

No information for Nassau residents was available.

AVOID GETTING RIPPED OFF

Suffolk County is investigating at least two instances of price gouging, at a gas station and a supermarket, said Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. The allegations, he said, have yet to be substantiated.

Residents can call the county's Department of Consumer Affairs at 631-853-4600 with complaints.

SHOWER FACILITIES

In Nassau, shower facilities will be available at two county pools free of charge, County Executive Edward Mangano announced Tuesday.

Wednesday, shower facilities at North Woodmere Park will be available daily from 9 to 11 a.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. At Cantiague Park in Hicksville, the showers will be open from 8 to 10 a.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. North Woodmere Park is on Branch Boulevard at Hungry Harbor Road in North Woodmere.

For more information, please call 516-571-7801. Cantiague Park is located on West John Street in Hicksville. For more information, please call 516-571-7057.

MOVIE NIGHTS

Nassau County residents who need a break from the cleanup can enjoy free movies in Eisenhower Park. "Iron Man 2" will be shown at the Lakeside Theatre Wednesday and bottled water will be available free of charge.

Thursday, "The Twilight Saga Eclipse" will be shown at Lakeside, as the final movie night of county's Family Movie Night series. All residents are welcome.

For further information, call the Nassau County Parks Public Information Office at 516-572-0200

TO REACH LONG ISLAND TOWNS AND CITIES

NASSAU

North Hempstead: Call 311 or 516-TOWN-311 for a service representative, or go to northhempstead.com.

Hempstead: Call 516-489-5000 or visit townofhempstead.org.

Oyster Bay: Visit oysterbaytown.com or call the highway department to report downed trees at 516-677-5757.

City of Glen Cove: Visit glencove-li.com or call 516-676-2000.

City of Long Beach: Visit longbeachny.org or call city hall at 516-431-1000.

SUFFOLK

Babylon: Visit townofbabylon.com or call the public safety department at 631-422-7600 to report downed trees.

Brookhaven: Call the highway department at 631-451-9200 to report downed trees or visit brookhaven.org

East Hampton: Visit town.east-hampton.ny.us or call the highway department to report roadway obstructions at 631-324-0925.

Huntington: Visit huntington.ny.us, the town's Facebook page, or call its 24-hour emergency number, 631-351-3234.

Islip: Visit townofislip-ny.gov or call 631-224-5600 to report downed trees.

Riverhead: Call the storm hotline at 631-727-3200 or visit riverheadli.com.

Southampton: Visit southamptontownny.gov or call 631-283-6000.

Southold: Visit southoldtown.northfork.net or call 631-765-1800.

Shelter Island: Visit shelterislandtown.uschecked/jday or call 631-749-0291.