SOMERS, N.Y. -- About 50 cars were in line, four abreast, at the Somers Highway Department on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., waiting for dry ice to be distributed. Each car was given some bottled water and offered additional supplies from Red Cross volunteers.
Potable water is available at the Amawalk and Granite Springs firehouses and at Reis Park. People must bring their own containers. Deliveries of dry ice will continue until the power is restored.
Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy was on hand at the highway department to help out and to offer encouragement. Its all very frustrating, she said. Were pushing from some good solid information from NYSEG but were not getting it. Route 202 is still blocked. Theyre giving us a minuscule amount of dry ice. We still have about 7,000 homes without power.
Heritage Hills resident Roslyn Zimet reported that she has no lights, no telephone, no way of communicating. I had to throw away all my food. Its taking a long time to resolve, but Mary Beth is doing a great job.
Steve Schoenfeld, of Shenorock, said his kids were freaking out without Internet access. The worst thing is, if your sump pump goes, everything goes, he said. Its a big problem in Shenorock. Some people have 12 inches of water in their basements. And my wife is not good at taking cold showers either.
Terri Sachs, a C.E.R.T. volunteer, spent three days at the Heritage Hills shelter. People were divided according to their needs. Some wanted quiet, some needed activity and some needed rest. There was no Internet service, but there was information, comfort, conversation and coffee.
Sachs said he thought the shelter was very well managed. At times, there were up to 120 people -- last night, three people slept there. The shelter will be open until the emergency is over.
Zimet said she slept at home but spent her days at the shelter. Its all very tiring and depressing. They had cots and pillows. But would you believe it? They caught two people trying to steal two cots and pillows. Can you imagine?
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