Residents in those areas were directed to head for higher ground or to one of the city’s 91 evacuation and emergency shelters.

The Department of Buildings directed construction companies to secure any active sites. All five major airports serving the New York City area were closed. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) shut down its operations beginning at noon last Saturday as an effort to not only protect its own workers but move trains and buses from depots in flood-prone areas to higher ground.

The heavy rains dumped by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene flooded the intersection of 69th Street and 48th Avenue in Woodside. (photo: Nicholas Biondo) Those who weren’t in low-lying areas were strongly urged by public officials to stock up on supplies beforehand and stay at home as Irene bore down on the area.

Compared to parts of Long Island, New Jersey and upstate New York, much of the city was spared the worst of the storm. Locally, the tropical tempest produced its share of damage across Queens in the form of down power lines, uprooted trees and fallen limbs that smashed into nearby cars and homes. The Fire Department reportedly received over 3,000 emergency calls in Queens alone during the storm.

The southwestern Queens neighborhoods of Hamilton Beach and Howard Beach also experienced coastal flooding that filled basements and damaged decks along area basins.

“Lots of tree damage and lots of flooding,” said Community Board 10 Chairperson Betty Braton in an interview with the Times Newsweekly. Though the area experienced other coastal storms which proved more damaging than Irene, she said, the area did not come away completely unscathed by the storm.

“Overall, we’re damn lucky that the storm was not worse than it was,” she said, adding that the basement of her home was flooded during the tropical storm. “The damage is significant, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse.”

Upon making landfall, Irene moved quickly northward and was out of most of the city by around noontime Sunday. The MTA resumed bus service at around 4:30 p.m. and most of the subway system was back on line by 6 a.m. Monday morning.

President Barack Obama signed on Wednesday, Aug. 31, a federal disaster declaration for New York State and others that were affected by Irene. The five boroughs were designated to receive “public assistance” aid, which will be given to various state and local agencies to cover the cost of emergency repairs and debris removal. According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, “additional designations may be made at a later date after further evaluation.”

Unplugged by Irene

Queens residents made up the most Con Edison customers who lost power during the hurricane, as more than 36,000 customers scattered across the borough were left in the dark at the height of the storm. At 8 a.m. Sunday morning, the following locations were among those on Con Edison’s outage map listed as having lost electricity:

 Penelope Avenue and 77th Place in Middle Village (433 customers were out due to down wires);

 Justice and 55th avenues in Elmhurst (14 customers lost power due to a manhole problem);

 68th Avenue and Clyde Street in Forest Hills;

 Park Lane South and 105th Street in Richmond Hill;

 Ozone Park, in the vicinity of Linden Boulevard and 95th Street; Desarc Road and 133rd Avenue; Sutter Avenue and 80th Street; Pitkin Avenue and 77th Street; and Eldert Lane and 97th Avenue;

 South Ozone Park, in the vicinity of Rockaway Boulevard and 114th Street; 115th Avenue and 124th Street; and 116th Avenue and 125th Street;

 88th Street and 162nd Avenue in Howard Beach; and

 24th Avenue and Ericcson Street in East Elmhurst.

Nearly 90 percent of all New York City customers had their power restored by Tuesday night, Aug. 30, according to a press release issued by Con Edison on Wednesday morning. In all, 187,000 customers in the five boroughs and Westchester County lost electricity during the storm.

Con Edison noted that electrical crews from across the country were called into assist the company in making the necessary repairs to restore power quickly.

Pitching in

Reportedly, as many as 400 trees across the city were brought down by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. Even as the storm made landfall on Sunday morning, volunteers were out in full force helping to pick up the pieces and set the stage for a quick recovery.

Vincent Arcuri, chairman of Community Board 5, stated that the Glendale/ 104th Precinct Civilian Observation Patrol (104COP), the Glendale Volunteer Ambulance Corps (GVAC) and its Community Emergency Response Team were out on patrol during overnight hours and helped clear debris off local streets as the storm subsided.

“The biggest challenge was the removal of a 70-year-old oak tree that fell across Woodhaven Boulevard, blocking southbound traffic from 5:30 to 11:30 a.m.,” Arcuri said in an e-mail to the Times Newsweekly. “The volunteer teams, aided by Apple Towing Services, cut up and moved the tree out of the roadway. In all, they cleared at least five blocked streets, including moving downed telephone and cable service lines off the streets.”

Ryan Gunning, president of GVAC, noted that the volunteer ambulance corps was active around-theclock from 6 p.m. Friday night until 6 a.m. Monday morning. Operating with two ambulances and an additional response vehicle, the corps responded to a dozen emergency calls, including assisting a stuck motorist on Union Turnpike and clearing trees from roadways.

“An amazing job was done by these members of the community,” he said.

Under the direction of President Frank Kotnik, the 104COP was also on patrol from 2 a.m. until 10 p.m. Sunday, assisting the 104th Precinct in debris removal and traffic control.

Rating the response

City agencies—and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in particular— were hammered for the government’s response to the after-Christmas blizzard of 2010, as roads were left unplowed for several days following the storm. But following Irene, local civic leaders offered praise for the city and Con Edison for their response to the hurricane.

“I think we did pretty good here,” said Queens Community Board 4 District Manager Richard Italiano, noting that while a few trees had toppled over, no residents lost power and no complaints had been called in to his office, which he called “a good sign.”

That sentiment was echoed by Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio and by a secretary manning the phones at Brooklyn Community Board 4, each of whom claimed few phone complaints of damage in their neighborhoods.

Board 2 Chairperson Joseph Conley did note that portions of Hunters Point experienced flooding due to the storm, his area also went largely unscathed.

“Hats off to the mayor and OEM (the Office of Emergency Management),” he stated.

Braton noted that Con Edison had been in daily contact with the board updating them on efforts to restore power to areas left in the dark by Irene.

“It’s a massive effort,” she said on Tuesday, Aug. 30. “They’re working as fast as they can to get these wires up. In my estimation, they’re doing the best they can do.”

Local elected officials applauded the efforts of volunteer groups who helped at evacuation centers and in the field by removing debris from roadways.

“Again, today (Sunday) we are grateful that the city covered so many bases prior to the storm’s arrival and prevented tragedies and even greater damage and destruction,” said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall in a statement.