Utility Crews Spotted in Malverne, Parts of Lynbrook, West Hempstead Restored

More than 9,000 residents in Malverne, Lynbrook, West Hempstead and Lakeview were without power for a fifth straight day Friday but the Long Island Power Authority is making progress in the area.

While touring the neighborhoods Friday afternoon, Patch spotted a LIPA crew working on Ocean Avenue in Malverne near the Southern State Parkway. According to LIPA, there is an outage there that affects more than 1,700 customers.

Crews were also working on Cornwell Avenue and Wagg Avenue Friday, where residents later reported that their power came back on. (The workers on Wagg were from Tennesse.) A fleet of utility trucks that travelled from North Carolina also set-up in the parking lot behind San Dee Lanes bowling alley in Malverne.

Village Trustee Michael Bailey told Patch, there will be about 20 crews working in the village Saturday, "dedicated to getting Malverne back on the grid."

He explained that these crews were able "to commit these resources because the [village's Department of Public Works] has cleared the trees that were tangled in the lines, so they are clear to be restored."  Deliveries of replacement poles and transformers have been coming in and work is being coordinated through DPW Superintendent Paul Jessup.

Patch also learned Friday that homes in North Lynbrook, on Lakeview Avenue and Hendrickson Avenue, also were restored.

West Hempstead residents living near Echo Park also saw their power come back on earlier in the day. Another resident on Walnut Street in West Hempstead let us know that her street was "up and running" even though one block away, on Garden City Boulevard, there was still a large tree down across the roadway Friday afternoon accompanied by some low-hanging wires.

A Verizon crew was also working on Westminster Road outside St. Thomas the Apostle School and National Wholesale Liquidators, where two utility poles had snapped and a large tree fell.

As of 7:20 p.m., LIPA was reporting that there were 2,502 Malverne customers still experiencing outages; 5,059 in Lynbrook; 723 in Lakeview, and 802 in West Hempstead. Across Long Island, there were 6,453 "active outages" still, affecting 519,384 customers. The figures represented an increase of 324 in Lakeview and 27 in Lynbrook since Friday morning. The number of customers without power in Lynbrook and Malverne has steadily been rising by the hundreds. For instance, Malverne had 2,135 customers out Wednesday but more than 2,500 Friday.

On its Facebook page Friday, LIPA explained why the number of affected customers may rise in a certain area, saying:

"If you have had power for the past few days and lost it recently, it may be to get others back on. Sometimes we have to shut some down in order to restore power to more people."

It also tried to dispel rumors that some areas were receiving special treatment, stating:

"Crews are dispatched once the assessment has been made and the work that needs to be done is determined. No town or city receives preferential treatment."

In its Friday morning update LIPA said it expects to have power restored to the majority of customers by the weekend of Nov. 10 and Nov. 11. The remaining customers could take an additional week or more, excluding those areas where extreme flooding requires coordinating efforts with local officials.

As of 6 p.m., LIPA had restored 37 of the 50 substations that were out of power, explaining:

"This is significant because it is the substations that distribute power to local neighborhoods.

"As we continue to restore power to our customers, we are focused on completing the restoration of power to critical health facilities, areas of public safety and schools, each of which are essential to restoring some normalcy to the lives of Long Islanders."

Have you noticed LIPA working in your area? Where? Let us know in the comments space below.