Winter storm leaves snow, slush and icy water on local roads and sidewalks

Clean-up is underway after a major winter storm pounded the region yesterday with heavy snow, gusty winds, sleet and freezing rain, leaving a slushy mess in its wake.

The storm left 10 to 12 inches of snow over most parts of Riverhead Town, Highway Superintendent George Woodson said this morning.

Town highway crews were out plowing until the early hours of the morning today, Woodson said.

“I sent them home to get a couple of hours sleep because most worked almost 26 hours straight,” he said. Crews were reporting back to work at 7 a.m., he said.

Woodson said this storm was “in the top five worst storms” he’s seen as highway superintendent. “You had 10 or 12 inches of snow. We had to fight to keep roads open on the north side of town with snow blowing off the farm fields. Then we got rain and sleet on top of it and it got real heavy,” he saiid.

The clean-up, he said, is “a two-day process.”

Crews prioritize the town’s main roads, Woodson said, working to keep them open during a storm. Then they focus on the secondary arteries, he said. Developments and side roads come last — except in cases of emergency, when the highway department sends a plow truck to open a road for emergency vehicles.

Woodson said the town highway department, with its 31-man crew, doesn’t have the personnel to work in shifts during a major storm.

He asked residents for patience. “Crews did the best they could as snow, sleet and rain fell. We’re going to hit it hard again today and should have everything wrapped up this afternoon,” he said.

Woodson urged residents and businesses and private plows not to push snow onto roads. Town code prohibits the practice, but people do it anyway, the highway chief said.

People also don’t comply with the ban on parking in the streets during a snow storm, he said.

“All the parked cars really hamper plowing operations,” Woodson said, voicing a perennial complaint.

Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller said this morning police officers place flyers on the windshields of parked to notify residents of the parking ban. The notices are written in English and Spanish, he said. Vehicles parked in the lots south of Main Street are notified about flooding issues, he said.

“We were out the day before the storm,” Hegermiller said. People just don’t listen, he said.

Hegermiller said the high tide overnight flooded portions of the parking lot. “But with all the snow, it turned into one big slushy mess,” he said.

“Overall,” the chief said, “I think we fared pretty well in this storm.” The town’s main roads are “in good shape,” Hegermiller said. “The secondaries are passable.” Cleanup is ongoing, he said.

People just need to be patient, he said. Cleaning up after a winter storm doesn’t happen instantly.

Forecasters are keeping an eye on another storm system that may impact the Long Island region Sunday night into Monday.

“This is New York. It’s winter. If you don’t like snow, move to Florida,” Hegermiller said.