Residents Clean Up In the Wake of Irene

The day after Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc on Long Island and the Sachem area, as the sun shone, most residents began the arduous cleanup of downed trees, branches, leaves and debris which littered their yards.

Ronkonkoma resident Angie Galgan, 44, said that none of her trees came down, and all she had to do was a quick cleanup of a few errant branches — and she thinks she knows why.

"If you water good, they have deep roots.  So, when the wind comes the roots are well in.  I'm a plant person," said Galgan who meticulously waters her trees and lawn for three hours at a time weekly.

Those around her didn't fare as well.

"One neighbor had a tree fall in the pool," she said.  "We were lucky this year; we didn't have any damage; now we're getting ready to go on vacation."

Kerry Evans from Lake Grove also escaped the fate of downed trees that befell many of her neighbors.

"We just took a drive around the neighborhood.  In spots there are lines hanging from trees ... One of the trees came down, and took the whole sidewalk with it," Evans said.

 While none of Ronkonkoma resident Gerry McMenamin's, 70, trees got knocked down, he still had his fair share of cleaning up to do, since his neighbor's tree fell in his yard.

"She's old, so I'm going to take care of it," said McMenamin.

Lake Grove's Dorothy Aloise, 61, was saddened that her 20 year old apple tree was destroyed.  Now, she's left with a yard full of ripe, bittersweet apples; which are the last bounty of her beloved tree.

"My neighbor's going to cut it up for me," she said.  "I feel bad about it."

Charlotte D'Aiuto, who lives on Coleridge Road in Holbrook, suffered major damage when a pair of giant, old oak trees plummeted to the ground in her front yard, in addition to the fence, blocking both her and her neighbor's driveways.

"I called Big R Tree Service in Selden.  They came here to accommodate us," said D'Aiuto.  "I called at 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning, during the storm, and they were here at 8:30 a.m.  They were unbelievable, just wonderful.  They said we were put on the priority list, because of my husband's medical condition."

Charlie Pisano, 42, who lives on Pine Street in Holbrook, was out raking up several bags of branches and leaves, but was most concerned with the fact that his power is still out indefinitely.

"We didn't have a major catastrophe.  We weren't hit hard.  We just have no power," he said.

Across the street from Pisano, Suzette Astarita, 48, was raking up about a dozen bags of debris on her own property.

"I'm grateful nobody on the block is hurt.  Nobody got trees on houses, like other streets.  There were no floods.  We've got no power, but we're ok," said Astarita.  "It's a cleanup.  I'd rather that than a tree on your house or your neighbor's house.  You've got to keep it in perspective."