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60 MPH Winds Wreak Havoc on Long Island

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A tree fell onto a Glen Cove home on Monday morning, narrowly missing a woman inside (Glen Cove City Police photo)

Strong winds gusting more than 60 mph downed trees and utility lines across Long Island on Monday, resulting in damaged homes, blocked roads, train delays and thousands of power outages, officials said.

The incidents happened as the meteorologists in the Upton office of the National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for Nassau and Suffolk counties through 6 p.m. Monday. The wind damage caused headaches island-wide—including in Glen Cove, where a woman narrowly avoided being hit by a tree that crashed through the roof of her Buckeye Road home at 8:30 a.m.

“The tree fell onto the side of the house, totally destroying the front den and bedroom,” Glen Cove City Police Det. Lt. John Nagle said in a statement. “The 60-year-old homeowner had just left her bedroom when the tree fell. The ranch-style house sustained significant damage, but no one was hurt.”

A tree also reportedly fell onto a house in Oceanside.

All of New York City, parts of Connecticut and the Hudson Valley were under the same wind warning. The strongest wind gust reported on LI was 61 mph, which was recorded at 10:25 a.m. in Calverton, according to the NWS, which predicted sustained winds up to 35 mph in addition to the gusts.

“The strongest winds will be through late afternoon,” the agency said in a statement. “Scattered power outages are expected.”

PSEG Long Island reported that more than 4,200 homes and businesses among their 1.1 million customers were without power as of 2 p.m. Monday. Crews were working to restore power in areas that had outages.

The Long Island Rail Road also reported wind-related problems.

“Due to high winds resulting in broken railroad-grade crossing-gate arms across multiple branches, there are scattered delays across the system,” the agency said in a statement. “LIRR customers are advised to be cautious when on station staircases and platforms and when boarding and exiting trains.”

Drivers were not spared, either. Downed utility wires blocking roadways were reported in Riverhead, Bethpage and Westbury. In addition, downed trees blocking roads were reported on Mill River Road in Upper Brookville, Sweet Hollow Road in Huntington and Sunrise Highway in Massapequa Park.