Town of Smithtown officials said they are working closely with LIPA in continuing the effort to restore power to residents following Hurricane Sandy.
According to the LIPA power outage map, Smithtown has 9,674 homes in the dark as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
“We still have some outages we are working on. These are the more difficult outages, where we have to get to the rear of peoples homes. It is the most difficult because we can’t get equipment back there. A lot of that work has to be done by hand,” said Wehrheim.
All roads are passable, said Wehrheim, though a few streets require a bit more caution. “Downed wires are all de-energized,” he said.
Werheim said it is hard to tell when power will be fully restored, but said LIPA has been fully cooperative. "We have highway crews sticking right with LIPA crews."
Smithtown's Superintentent of Highways Glenn Jorgensen said the town is working directly with LIPA's tree removal crews who have an order for what trees are to be removed before others.
"The dangerous trees will be cut down first," he said. "I have one contractor that does trees that are leaning."
Garbage carters went out on Monday to begin collecting trash. Brush collection is ongoing, “just put it out and we will pick it up,” said Wehrheim. Cardboard and paper recyclables will be picked up beginning Wednesday.
Town officials are keeping an eye on the next storm, expected to hit Long Island on Wedensday. "I am hoping it doesn't hit us too hard and winds get downgraded," said Wehrheim.
