Snow piled up throughout Nassau County beginning late Sunday night into Monday and Tuesday, resulting in a handful of North Shore areas receiving more than a foot of fresh powder. Dozens of car crashes were reported on slippery roads.
East Williston received just over 13 inches of snow on Monday, with Port Washington not far behind at 13 inches. Garden City got 12.4 inches of snow, while Herricks received 11.5 inches, according to statistics.
The snowfall was part of the first nor’easter in the calendar year, which remained stationary over the Atlantic Coast of southern New Jersey, weather experts said. Experts also said the snow was falling at a rate of almost three inches per hour in most of the region.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked people throughout the state to stay off the roads as the snow fell throughout the day on Monday.
“This storm is no joke and the main concern right now is that the expected snowfall rate of two inches per hour creates an extremely dangerous situation on our roadways,” Cuomo said on Monday. “I want New Yorkers to hear me loud and clear – stay home and off the roads and if you must travel, get where you’re going before noon, and expect to remain home for some time.”
While the snow remained prominent on roadways, sidewalks, and driveways on Wednesday, the snowfall that begin late Sunday night into Monday morning caused 50 car crashes in a 12-hour span, according to a spokesperson from the Nassau County Police Department.
The spokesperson said the number of crashes filed between midnight and noon on Monday was slightly higher than average for the county’s logs. The spokesperson did not disclose how many of the crashes required transportation to the hospital, but Northwell Health spokesman Jason Molinet said the hospitals saw “more ambulance calls than usual.”
Between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Monday, police officials said they received more than 130 calls reporting car crashes.
Town of North Hempstead Department of Public Works maintenence supervisor Brian Waterson said it was “all hands on deck” trying to get the roads properly plowed and serviced by Tuesday.
As of Tuesday morning, PSEG Long Island tweeted that service was restored to more than 20,000 customers on Long Island. More than 300 customers were still without service as of Tuesday, the company said.
The Long Island Rail Road halted service on Monday afternoon due to the treacherous weather conditions but was able to resume by Tuesday morning, officials said.
