Southampton Town Facilities Closed Tuesday As Cleanup Continues After Massive Blizzard

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — After a blizzard slammed Long Island with up to 30 inches of snow and wind gusts of more than 70 miles per hour in some areas, Southampton Town facilities will remain closed on Tuesday.

Also, according to Ryan Murphy, town code compliance and emergency management administrator, the regularly scheduled town board meeting has been rescheduled to March 3.

Highway department, parks maintenance, and municipal works employees are continuing to work "around the clock to clear roadways and prepare facilities to safely receive visitors," officials said.

The Southampton Town Highway Department manages and maintains more than 450 miles of roadway within the Town of Southampton, officials said. Highway crews were out continuously since before the storm, "working very hard and in very challenging conditions, to clear the roadways and make them safe for drivers," town officials said.

Southampton Town experienced snowfall rates near 2 inches per hour during portions of the storm and snow totals in the range of 18 inches to 24 inches, officials said.

Along with the snowfall rates and high volume of snow, gusty winds created serious visibility concerns during the storm and continue to create scenarios where blowing and drifting snow greatly exceeds 18 inches to 24 inches in height, officials said.

"It is expected that impacts from this storm will likely be felt for a few days by the time all roads can be thoroughly plowed," town officials said.

Along with the roadways, the town has many facilities and offices that also must be cleared and plowed in order to safely receive visitors, officials added. Southampton Town parks maintenance crews and the municipal works staff attend to those spaces.

"Much of the equipment utilized for these areas is not normally prepared to handle such high volumes of snow," officials said. "Many of these areas also require traditional hand shoveling."

Southampton Town Supervisor Moore, on behalf of the entire town board, thanked the staff of the highway department, parks maintenance, and municipal works department, who were clearing roads and facilities to make them safe for residents and visitors.

"We have such gratitude for the amazing efforts of all of these staff members in the tremendous job that they are doing under such extraordinary circumstances," said Moore.

Southampton Town Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara, who serves as liaison to the fire and EMS agencies, echoed Moore’s sentiments.

"I would also like to recognize the work of all of our dedicated volunteers from the different fire departments and EMS agencies throughout the town who responded to calls in the face of very challenging weather conditions," she said.

Councilmen Bill Pell, Michael Iasilli and Tom Neely also expressed gratitude to police, public safety, dispatchers, highway, parks, municipal works, fire and EMS personnel "who are continuing to work hard to preserve the safety of our community under these difficult conditions."

They urged residents to be patient as roads are plowed from the historic snowfall. They also assured residents that roads would be plowed "but recovering from a storm of this magnitude does take time."