Long Island Socked by Powerful Storm, More Than 8,000 Power Outages Remain

If you climbed into bed early Wednesday night, you may have woken up Thursday to clear sunny skies with no recollection of a powerful overnight storm that lashed Long Island with 50 mph winds.

But for the 8,315 PSEG Long Island customers who remain without power as of 2 p.m.. Thursday (there were nearly 40,000 outages reported earlier), the storm is certainly fresh in their minds.

A strong line of thunderstorms barreled toward the region Wednesday night and while there were rumblings of thunder and some spectacular lightning on Long Island, it was the wind that did the damage, which included a tree toppling onto a home on Chicago Avenue in Massapequa, according to CBS 2. Two cars were also set ablaze by fallen power lines on New Hampshire Road in Massapequa. No injuries were reported.

There were several road closures across the island Thursday morning due to downed trees and power lines. A few Long Island schools are either closed or opening on a delay Thursday. See the list on News 12.

The Long Island Rail Road urged commuters to allow for extra travel time and plan for the potential for weather-related delays and cancellations during the Thursday morning rush. As of 8 a.m., though, things seem to be running smoothly on the LIRR, with 10-15 minutes delays and some cancellations only being reported on the West Hempstead Branch.

Severe thunderstorms plagued the East Coast from Florida to New York for much of the day Wednesday and the storms, which brought heavy snow to the Midwest, spawned tornadoes in several states, including Virginia, according to the National Weather Service.

In Virginia, three people, including a 2-year-old, were found dead during Wednesday’s storms, thrown 300 yards from their mobile home. The storm ripped through the small town of Waverly in the early afternoon, damaging several buildings. A fourth person

In Pennsylvania, the storms caused multiple buildings to collapse and emergency responders were battling several storm-related fires Wednesday night.

As of 2 p.m., there are 4,343 power outages reported in Suffolk County and 3,930 in Nassau County. See the PSEG Long Island outage map here.

PSEG said the hardest hit areas include the towns of Huntington, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay.

“We have a full complement of crews, contractors and tree trim crews deployed out in the field,” PSEG said on its Facebook page. “Please report outages and any down wires to 800-490-0075.”

Have photos of storm damage on Long Island? Email them to ryan@patch.com