Riverhead faces temperatures in the 30s — without gas or power
Riverhead residents still without power from Hurricane Sandy will be facing a weekend of near-freezing temperatures, according to weather reports.
There’s a gas shortage to boot, so generators may soon be quieting down as well.
So staying warm may be a problem for many in the coming days.
Temperates will remain 40 and above into Friday — reaching 57 today — but the National Weather Service is predicting temperatures will drop into the 30s Saturday and Sunday, with a predicted low of 37 degrees on both days.
Riverhead Town will operate a warming station for residents to seek shelter between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Riverhead Senior Center on Shade Tree Lane in Aquebogue.
For more information, call the Senior Center at 631-722-4444.
Kathleen Burke and her husband, Tom, of Laurel said this week that they’re grateful they have a fire place, even though they’ve been without power.
“We haven’t had to use the fireplace yet,” Ms. Burke said, “but things are about to turn.”
According to the LIPA outages map as of about noon, 6,772 customers were without power in Riverhead Town, with another 821 customers out in Flanders and 834 in Riverside/Northampton in Southampton Town.
Some 278, 000 LIPA customers out of the 619,00 in Suffolk County remain affected by the storm.
LIPA is urging all residents to report assumed downed power lines are live, and to report them (800) 490-0075.
On Thursday morning, both Jonathan Shipman of Shamrock Tree Company said they couldn’t spare a second to talk as they worked to chop up downed trees in Laurel.
For those with generators, the gasoline shortage in Riverhead may prove worrisome.
Staffers at Lighthouse Marina, located at 229 Meeting House Creek Road in Aquebogue, said unlike some marinas east of them, Larry’s Lighthouse did not sustain any damage to the docks during the storm, and that the marina has both regular gasoline and diesel fuel for boats.
The marina is willing to fill up gas cans for generators, if needed.
