Seaford Neighbors Band Together Through No Power

In the midst of frustration that many local residents stuck without power have felt in the wake of Hurricane-turned Tropical Storm Irene, one Seaford neighborhood is banding together through the struggle.

Residents on the southern end of Riverside Avenue have been without power since just after midnight this past Sunday causing many to use generators. Sharing and checking up on neighbors has been commonplace on this block, which was described as already close-knit even before Irene barreled through. They are among the 1,026 Seaford homes and businesses still without power as of early Thursday afternoon along with 2,016 Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) customers in Wantagh and North Wantagh, according to the utility’s storm center website

“Everybody is helping everybody,” said Joe Sutera, who has lived on Riverside Avenue for 22 years and has constantly checked up on his neighbors with storm cleanup and lent help with installing generators. “We’re a very close-knit group.”

In addition to sharing generators, neighbors have also provided help with pumping each other’s flooded basements. There is hope that LIPA will soon be able to restore their service after a tree removal company arrived Thursday morning to clean up a large tree that fell on wires. In the meantime, residents on this quiet street will continue to make sure everybody is cared for.

“We’ve been checking on all our neighbors,” said Norine Pretti, who has also called Riverside Avenue home for 22 years.

“Everybody has been very kind,” said Lauren Tietz, who has spent much of this week drying out many items flooded in her basement.

LIPA issued a statement early Thursday afternoon saying it has restored service to 81 percent of its customers and has 99,000 who remain without service.

“Our restoration teams continue to make significant progress restoring power, however the amount of destruction that Irene has had on the electric system is extreme and crews will continue to work around the clock until service is restored to all of our customers,” said Michael Hervey, LIPA’s Chief Operating Officer. “We know how taxing this has been on customers and are doing everything we can to restore power as quickly as possible.

Tietz, a Michigan native who moved to Seaford 10 years ago, emphasized that while there is frustration not having power when there are three small children to care for, she appreciates the difficult challenge LIPA has in addressing all of its customers. “LIPA is doing the best that they can,” she said. “Luckily everyone on this block has been healthy and safe this week.”