I would like to thank our residents, businesses and the employees of Nassau County for their patience and cooperation during last week’s blizzard. With the storm dumping over 16 inches of snow in our community, County employees mobilized early the morning after Christmas Day to deal with its cleanup. Crews were instructed to plow lanes adequate for travel in both directions. First priorities for snow removal included major thorough fares and access to emergency services. In all, over 100 County employees were involved in clearing roadways and dropping over 2,880 pounds of salt on our roadways. When those County roadways were cleared, snow plowing operations were sent to assist towns and villages who requested such help with residential streets.
The county was successful, with the help of media outlets, in diverting over 1,500 calls in 28 hours from 911 to a hotline that handled downed trees, stranded cars and other non-emergencies. Our police assisted many individuals in need of emergency care during the storm and even drove nurses and doctors to work at our hospitals to care for the sick. Nassau County’s Warm Bed Program also provided shelter for 47 homeless or home-bound individuals during the storm.
Again, thank you all for your patience and cooperation during and after the blizzard. As always, we will strive to improve snow clearance operations with every new storm.
Edward P. Mangano
County Executive
