The next time someone suggests a chore you dislike, and you say, "Sure, I'll do that ... when it snows in August ...," watch what you say. After all, it did "snow," after a fashion," here in Great Neck late last Monday morning, Aug. 11. While the worst of the storm was north of Northern Boulevard, the hardest hit was the Village of Great Neck, which saw flooded streets, flooded cars and flooded homes.

A fire at Allenwood Road, south of the village, reportedly from a gas leak, added to the disastrous day.

Fire trucks and emergency vehicles, sirens blaring, were heard pretty much all day.

In the Old Village, Mayor Ralph Kreitzman told the Great Neck Record that cars had to be abandoned on Middle Neck Road, near Old Mill Road. "Water was up to some windshields," he reported. Some people had to literally be rescued from their cars, the mayor said. He also stated that to his and other village personnel's knowledge, some of the areas that flooded had not done so previously.

Mayor Kreitzman also said that some homes in the village were also flooded, as was the garage of the apartment building at 444 Middle Neck Road. Village crews were out all day, fighting to clear storm drains, as the waters kept rising. With the fear of yet more storms, which did come, the village rented town sweeper trucks the next day, to clean up the leaves and branches and other debris.

Additionally, the Village of Great Neck has a fairly new, ongoing committee that is studying any issues that could possibly impact on flooding.

We feel terrible to see homes of our friends and neighbors flooded," Mayor Kreitzman said, adding that, "but the law prohibits us from spending any municipal funds for any private property." The mayor did say that they will continue to study storm drains and pipes and such and look for any possible ways in which they can help their residents.

He also noted that the county, through the efforts of the village and County Legislator Judi Bosworth, is doing work on East Shore Road near the end of Ravine Road and, this year, intends to award a contract to study the drainage problems on Middle Neck Road at Old Mill and Piccadilly Roads, just south of 444 Middle Neck, and has funds in its capital budget to do the work in 2009 and 2010.

At the height of the storm, Village of Great Neck Building Superintendent Norman Nemec reported that he evacuated the second floor of Village Hall on Baker Hill Road. "We were worried about a possible tornado, the sky was so black, the hail was coming horizontally," he said. As a matter of fact, Mr. Nemec told the Record that a few people who were out in the storm reported having seen a "black funnel" cross Middle Neck Road. "I think there was a tornado watch around here ... and what we had was probably at least a 'near tornado'," he added.

In an aside, later that week, during another strong storm, the Village Hall was struck by lightning, taking out phone lines and other equipment. At press time, the Old Village was pretty much recovered, with most of the technology up and running.

Village crews were overwhelmed with calls for assistance as there were streets that were flooded that usually are not affected in flash floods. As we drove through neighborhoods afterwards to see the damage, one resident on Warwick spotted us and came out to say, "Please print in the Record that I was out clearing a street drain myself when public work's people came by. I asked them for assistance and they just kept going."

The gas fueled fire on Allenwood and Devon was incorrectly reported last week as within the Alert Fire Department service area. In fact, the Vigilants serve that street and they were out in full force making sure that residents did not come into harm's way as the fire was being contained. Chief Scott MacDonald said, "It was a miracle that no one was hurt that day." He went on to add that residents who took it on themselves to clear clogged drains were placing themselves at risk. He said that there are two big dangers in flooding situations, downed power lines that can send out powerful electric currents through the water with the potential for electrocuting people and swirling water that can drag an arm or a leg into drains. The chief urges residents to carefully access an area, especially to make sure that no power lines are down, before attempting to clear drains.

In the adjoining Village of Kings Point, residents reported lots of power and cable outages, and several told the Record of debris all over their property. Lieutenant George Banville of the Kings Point Police Department said that there was some damage in Kings Point, "mainly trees and power lines." He said that there were "primary wires down all over ... some burned." Lt. Banville reported up to eight inches of snow in his village. "It was the most incredible three hours," he said.

Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth told the Record that she called each of Great Neck's nine mayors, and found that only the Village of Great Neck had really major problems. As for expending county funds, Legislator Bosworth said that the county, also, cannot spend public funds for private (individual's) causes, but that they are looking into federal grants that would come down through the state.

After contacting the village, Legislator Bosworth was able to effect a quick county response, sending people from the county to the Old Village, specifically to the apartment building at 444 Middle Neck Road. She has emphasized to Ray Robeiro, Nassau County Department of Public Works, that the drainage issues in that area "must be addressed promptly." She did note that there is money in the county's capital projects plan and that there is already an RFP (request for proposal) out for such a project. "We apologize, but it does take time," Legislator Bosworth said.

Summing up the number of recent wild storms and their disastrous results, Legislator Bosworth stated: "We need to adjust our approach to weather changes."