Village Board: Assessing Damage and Response to Irene

About 175 trees fell in the village during Hurricane Irene on Sunday, and of the 1,000 village residents who lost power during the storm, less than 100 of them are still in the dark, officials said.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Mayor Francis Murray lauded the unified effort and response of the village's department heads during the storm, who had its crews working throughout Saturday into Sunday night helping residents. "I could not be more proud of every response," Murray said.

The mayor, who spent the entire weekend at Village Hall, driving around the village assessing damage and speaking to residents, thanked those who are still without power for being patient and understanding that larger issues — like repairing distribution lines that service entire neighborhoods — had to come first.

Only 10 percent of the village lost power during Irene, he added, compared to 40 percent of LIPA customers. "You were four times better off living in Rockville Centre," Murray said.

Trustees thanked Murray for his leadership and poise during the Hurricane. "He was helpful and sympathetic," Deputy Mayor Nancy Howard. "Thank you Mayor Murray for the superb job you did."

Trustee Kevin Glynn echoed her sentiments. "It was incredible the way you took control of the situation," he said of Murray.

Police Commissioner Charles Gennario said the department had double the amount of staff working through the storm, and they received five times the usual amount of calls from Saturday night into Sunday afternoon. Police responded to 58 downed trees, he added, and also made two arrests for domestic incidents.

He explained that the department began preparing for a storm of these magnitude for years with its emergency management training, and had contingency plans in place for any curveball thrown its way. "We had to have back up plans for our back up plans," he said.

Trustee Ed Oppenheimer agreed that the village's response and preparation for the hurricane was exceptional, but hoped that next time a storm of this magnitude hits RVC, village officials could communicate outages and other information through social networking sites.