Thousands in Farmingdale Still in the Dark

On Wednesday morning, a significant portion Farmingdale's residents, many cold and uncomfortable, woke up in the dark, without power and modern communications, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

But many are saying, through social media and instant messages from their phones, that Farmingdale appears to have been spared the worst of the hurricane's fury.

Here's a sampling:

• "Sullivan Avenue - no power!"
• "Woodward Pkwy & Willard; no power."
• "Hemlock drive; no power."
• "Harrison Place; no power"
• Brook Path. No power and tree service hasn't come yet."

The list goes on: Birch Circle, Weiden Street, Prospect Street, East Drive: No power.

Farmingdale Patch readers were responding to a Facebook request for the status of their street and their homes.

Many are trying to cope under very difficult circumstances.

"We have house damage, shingles lost, siding gone and lost a fence," wrote Donna Olsen. "No power as well. We're all safe and sound; that's what's important."

"This is getting old quick," wrote MaryEllen Dunne Zizzo. "Had to clean out fridge yesterday and today three freezers full of food will be thrown away."

But many readers reported that power was gradually coming back, particularly along the Route 109 corridor and elsewhere. South Farmingdale appeared to be recovering quickly.

"Yes, we definately seem to be much better than most (communities,)" wrote Stephanie Golob. "We are functioning to a point. Being without power certainly is horrible but compared to what's going on (across Long Island) we are good over here."

LIPA reports that it has multiple crews "assessing" the power outages in Farmingdale where they say 1,269 of its 3,000 Farmingdale Village customers remain without power as of Wednesday afternoon. South Farmingdale was clearly in better shape, where about 500 of its 5,000 LIPA customers were still in the dark, according to LIPA's map.

None of those "assessments" on their interactive map provide a time estimate for the restoration of power yet.

LIPA has said it could take them 7-10 days to fully restore power to Long Island. This afternoon, LIPA said there were 400,000 customers without power in Nassau County alone.

Many local stores are operating, some through the use of generators. There are long lines at Dunkin' Donuts around town. Most area supermarkets, drug stores and convenience stores appear open. Roads are generally clear, but some have non-functioning traffic lights and downed stop signs.

There are gas stations open, particularly along Hempstead Turnpike. Often, motorists will encounter lines at gas stations.

Farmingdale's volunteer fire departments having been running around the clock on hundreds of runs since the storm hit Monday night.

For those of you with power, please pass the word along. Farmingdale Patch will continue to update this story and attempt to answer your questions. Find a way to reach out to us, and we'll tell your story.

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