Riverhead, Wading River residents shovel their way out after blizzard

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In the Riverhead area Friday morning, residents were out early trying to get out from under over a foot of snow that Thursday’s blizzard dumped on the East End. 

James Punda of Shirley got to his 93-year-old father’s house in Wading River at about 7:30 a.m. with his snowblower in tow. Once he finished his father’s driveway, he headed over to a neighbor’s home on Greenbriar Road to help them out, too.

“We got lucky the last couple of years,” Mr. Punda said during a break from behind the snowblower. He was good in spirits. While there is a lot of snow to deal with from this storm, he said it’s typical for Long Island. “We got hit good. It’s wintertime, it’s OK,” he said.

On top of a foot of snow, residents are grappling with temperatures in the teens Friday. Plus, winds were gusting up to 40 mph in Riverhead, where the wind chill values were between -5 and zero. A wind chill advisory is in effect for the entire East End until Saturday morning.

Caroline Lazzaruolo was finishing up digging out her driveway on Williams Way South in Calverton just before 9 a.m. Friday. She said it took her almost two hours to complete. A snow drift was banked along the front of her house, not a typical sight after a snow storm, she said. 

“It’s been much worse,” she said, thanks to the strong winds that continue to blow. 

In the parking lot at the intersection of Sound Road and North Country Road in Wading River, Jim Meier was hard at work with his snow plow clearing out the parking lot. The Wading River resident owns a snow plowing company. “The businesses can’t operate without parking!” he said.

The morning after the storm in downtown Riverhead, people chose to stay indoors. There were not a lot of people walking around with temperature around 15 degrees. Riverhead was ready for business with roads and parking spaces cleared. Lots of large snow piles were left behind under, surprisingly, bright blue skies.

Strong gusts of winds blew snow across roads that run north and south throughout Riverhead Town, such as Edwards, Osborn, and Sound Avenues, where there is ample open space. Sound Avenue had been impassable during the blizzard, but was open by Friday morning.