Heavy snow walloped the northeast for much of Monday and parts of Tuesday as part of Winter Storm Juno, leaving an accumulation of 10-15 inches of snow throughout the North Shore, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm, for which Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency after forecasts called for up to three feet of snow in some areas, caused school closures and rescheduled Regents exams, canceled government meetings and closed offices and businesses throughout the region.
Cuomo instituted a travel ban after 11 p.m. Monday, closing the Long Island Railroad and New York City subway system and urging people to stay inside throughout the duration of the storm.
“This is not a storm to take lightly and we’re taking what we believe are prudent measures,” Cuomo said Monday.
The state deployed 550 snow removal vehicles and had about 50,000 pounds of salt on hand to clear snow from roadways, Cuomo said, and several National Guardsmen were readied to assist in plowing efforts.
In the Town of North Hempstead, 70 snow removal vehicles were used to clear roads, and its 311 call service center was opened during overnight hours in case of emergency.
“The town’s highway department has begun pretreating roads today and will continue to work and plow through the night,” North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said Monday. “We are asking residents to park in their driveways to enable our crews to clear roadways. If there are any areas that are impassable, we encourage residents to call 311 to report them.”
The town opened three warming centers, at Tully Park in New Hyde Park, the Yes We Can Community Center in Westbury and the Port Washington Senior Center, during the storm. The American Red Cross also opened a temporary shelter at New Hyde Park Memorial High School in the event of power outages in the area.
According to PSEG Long Island, more than 7,000 of the utility’s 1.1 million customers across Long Island and the Rockaways were without electricity at some point during the storm. PSEG also set up three customer outreach centers Tuesday, including one in Roslyn Heights.
The Roslyn, Manhasset, Great Neck, East Williston, Mineola, Sewanhaka and Herricks school districts operated on early dismissal schedules Monday and canceled midterm and Regents exams set for Tuesday. Chaminade High School and Saint Mary’s High School also took similar measures.
Nearly all the districts operated with delayed opening times on Wednesday.
The storm also canceled Great Neck and East Williston board of education meetings set for Monday, and postponed Village of Williston Park, Village of East Hills and Town of North Hempstead government meetings.
Williston Park has rescheduled its meeting for Feb. 2, while the East Hills will hold its meeting on Feb. 3.
