Hannon, McDonough Discuss Damage Done By Irene

State Senator Kemp Hannon and State Assemblyman David McDonough of the 19th District appeared outside the and near the Bed, Bath & Beyond in Plainview at a special New York State van on Friday, September 9. Their goal was to be able to answer questions and address concerns from their constituents about Irene’s effects on Long Island.

Hannon, McDonough and others set up the van in Plainview as it was one of the last towns to get restored. “Plainview got restored last so I knew I should come here,” said Hannon.

The Senator added that he understood the frustration of those who had no power. “We were fortunate we didn’t have scorching hot weather like we did a few weeks ago,” he said.

A concern of Hannon’s and McDonough’s, along with many of their constituents, was not necessarily how long it took for LIPA to get the power back on but LIPA’s lack of communication.  

“There were no callbacks," said McDonough. "When people called, they left their cell numbers and never received any information back.”

McDonough also said that LIPA’s online was unreliable and often had no information about who did and did not have power. There will be upcoming hearings to ascertain why LIPA’s communication was so poor and how it can be fixed so this does not occur again.

Both Hannon and McDonough agreed that backyard poles proved to be a large problem for the cleanup crews. Some homeowners were reluctant to have work done in their backyard for fear of property damage and had to be talked into allowing repairs to be done quickly.

“The problem wasn’t the workers," said McDonough. "The workers worked through the night. In many cases, they worked faster than LIPA said they would.”

McDonough felt that Governor Cuomo’s response to the disaster was much better than LIPA’s. “The governor’s response was excellent,” he said. “He gave us a hotline to his office and I’d get a callback following up on the issue.”

Hannon stated that many homeowners were confused about what insurance will and will not cover. As Irene was a tropical storm when it hit Long Island, it is an ordinary claims procedure. However, many homeowners were told when they bought their homes that flooding was not necessary so none was bought. Governor Cuomo is looking into providing some sort of retroactive insurance for those who have been affected by the flooding.