Hurricane updates: Orient-East Marion Causeway has reopened

2:20 p.m.

We’re hearing reports now that the Orient-East Marion Causeway is open once again. We’re looking into it.

12:45 p.m.

14,432 of 14,693 LIPA customers in Southold Town have been effected by power outages, according to a Long Island Power authority outage map.

Nearly 6,000 of those customers are in Southold hamlet, according to the map.

12 p.m.

People staying at the storm shelter at the Oysterponds School would be able to cross the closed causeway via Orient Fire Department brush truck in case of emergency, said Orient fire commissioner Bob Scott.

Mr. Scott, who is the chairman of the department’s emergency preparedness team, said there are about seven people at the shelter, though that number has been fluctuating. He said the shelter has the necessities it needs for the time being.

11:30 a.m.

The Orient-East Marion Causeway is under water and is closed, Southold Town Police said.

“We’re at high tide now,” Supervisor Scott Russell told News12 Sunday. “We’re seeing the flooding now.”

Mr. Russell said he can recalled the causeway being closed three or four times in recent yers due to flooding.

10:20 a.m.

Hurricane Irene, which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, was expected to make landfall on Nassau County about 10 a.m., according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm was downgraded about 9 a.m. and maximum sustained winds are now expected to be 65 mph.

With Irene crossing ashore near Coney Island, tropical force winds are continuing across the East End, knocking down trees and branches and disrupting power.

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Nearly 13,000 Southold Town customers — just about all of the 14,600 served in the town — were affected by outages by 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning, according to the Long Island Power Authority. Nearly 372,000 LIPA customers across Long Island have been affected by the storm as of 9 a.m.

Outages appeared spread throughout the town with no one area worse off than any other.

Gusts as strong as 75 miles per hour are expected to rip through the area until late morning, by which time another five or so inches of rain was expected to fall Sunday.

Minimal hurricane force winds extend 90 miles from Irene’s eye and tropical storm winds extend 260 miles.

At 6:58 a.m. today, Kennedy Airport reported top gusts of 44 knots or about 50 mph with the eye of the still storm about 95 miles south of New York at that time

To report an outage, call LIPA at 800-490-0075 or 631-755-6900 or go on line at:

http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter/