Hurricane Sandy Hits N. Lynbrook Hard [Photos]

The northern section of Lynbrook looked like a war zone Tuesday as residents began to assess the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

One of the hardest hit blocks was Stuart Avenue, where several large downed trees straddled the street and rested on homes, lawns and an Escalade. Tangled within the branches and split tree trunks were power lines and telephone wires. Most of the residents in the area reported that the trees and utility poles fell shortly before 8:30 p.m. Monday, knocking out power to many of the homes.

Nearby on Hawthorne Street, a massive tree slammed into two homes, taking out half of the second floor of one of the houses and hitting one of the neighbor's second-floor bedrooms.

Larry O'Brien, 45, was inside the basement of the house with his five children -- ages 14, 12, 9 and 7-year-old twins -- when they heard the tree fall around 8 p.m.

"The power was still on but the wires were in front of the house and the tree landed in the backyard too," O'Brien, a six-year Lynbrook resident, told Patch. "It hurt our chances of getting out."

Luckily, their neighbor heard the crash and his 17-year-old son hopped the fence that they share with the O'Briens and helped the family out of their home and over the fence. They stayed at the neighbor's house for the night.

"Right now, we don't know exactly what we are doing," O'Brien said. "We can't live in the house because it's not stable so we're figuring out what's the next step."

Trees also fell in other parts of Lynbrook too, including one outside the Marion Street School, another outside a home across the street, and two at the Lynbrook High School field. 

In the past 24 hours, the Lynbrook Volunteer Fire Department has responded to more than 45 calls in the neighborhood. Around 11 a.m. they were called to the electrical station on Hendrickson Avenue for a fire. 

As of 11:00 p.m. Tuesday, half of all LIPA customers in Lynbrook were still without power.

Click through the gallery above to see photos of the destruction in Lynbrook. Show us what's going on in your area. Upload photos here.

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