Utility crews work to restore power to Long Islanders following overnight thunderstorms
Residents in one East Patchogue community were left to pick up the up debris after trees and power lines were knocked down.
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PSEG Long Island worked throughout Sunday to restore power to thousands of Long Islanders after severe thunderstorms caused outages in the South Shore during the overnight hours.
The utility said over 5,000 people experienced power outages, with the majority in Suffolk County.
Residents on Chauncey Drive in East Patchogue were left to pick up the up debris after trees and power lines were knocked down.
"It sounded like a car crash right into the house," said homeowner Maria Hoeffner, describing when the storm toppled a tree that was on her neighbor's property onto her home. It landed on the side of the residence right above her daughter's bedroom. Hoeffner said she did not know that the storm would have been severe.
"They said there was a storm coming. We figured overnight thunder and lightning but nothing to this capacity. It's frightening" she added.
Resident Michael Ferrigno said he and his girlfriend were lucky to be alive after a massive tree fell right above their bedroom around 4 a.m.
The 29-year-old gave News 12 Long Island pictures of what his home looked like early Sunday after the tree toppled over onto the roof. He said the early morning sound of thunder and lightning continued for close to 45 minutes. All of a sudden, he said there was a loud cracking sound.
"We were laying in bed. All of a sudden, huge crash. A tree falls on my house. I grabbed my girlfriend, and all the pictures came off the wall. I think the whole tree was going to come down. It was nuts but all around here, trees down everywhere and wires down everywhere," Ferrigno said.
He added that his roof took the worst of the damage.
PSEG Long Island said East Patchogue, Mastic and Massapequa Park were the hardest hit areas.
Most utility customers had power restored by Sunday night.
PSEG Long Island advised residents to prepare ahead of a storm by having extra batteries and their mobile devices fully charged.
