Power Loss Leaves Foster Dogs In Need: 'They Can't Take The Heat'

LAUREL, NY — Tropical Storm Isaias slammed the North Fork Tuesday, leaving downed trees, live wires — and thousands without power, which led to countless human stories of real struggle as residents grappled with a loss of electricity in the August heat.

Barbara Jean Smith, who fosters and re-homes greyhounds with the Long Island Greyhound Connection, lives on Bray Avenue in Laurel, which was hit hard by the storm.

When she lost power, Smith knew she needed to act quickly. Greyhounds, she said, "cannot take the heat," she said. "Greyhounds have very little body fat so it's difficult for them to take extreme heat or extreme cold like other dogs and humans."

At first, she said, she wasn't too concerned until finding out the damage was widespread and there was no response from PSEG Long Island.

"Bray Avenue in Laurel is cut off down towards Peconic Bay Boulevard from both directions," Smith told Patch. "A tree went down yesterday afternoon in high winds and caused a transformer fire further north on the road."

The winds left wires all over people's front lawns, she said. "No access to PSEG by phone, computer or app. Disgraceful. No information, no refrigeration — scrambling to get animals to other people's homes because of the heat and humidity due to no AC."

But Smith was able to find friends to care for her two dogs, Missy and Daisy, as well as their "friends" Libby and Buckley, she said.

"My girls are over in Southold right now at a friend's. She has two more greyhounds and an Italian greyhound. The dogs themselves are very easy to care for except for the temperature aspect. And it's not really difficult — you just need heat and air conditioning," she said.

The challenging part was trying to get them into a tiny car because she had a loaner, Smith said — she had just dropped off her van for service.

"And then," she said, the worst part was not being able to reach PSEG, which had communication issues during the storm. "The not knowing," she said.

Many frustrated residents turned to social media to say that they were not able to get through to PSEG Long Island on Tuesday.

"We are experiencing communications issues and are working with Verizon and other partners to resolve this matter as quickly as possible," a media representative for PSEG Long Island said.