Long Island Hoping For Best But Bracing For Worst As Nor’easter Approaches: ‘Get Prepared Now’

ROOSEVELT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — The CBS2 First Alert weather team is tracking a possible winter storm for the weekend.

People on Long Island are getting ready for what could be a whole lot of snow.

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CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reported Thursday from Roosevelt, where homeowners were ready with snow shovels and ice melt. By noon, the winds had started to whip, as concerns grew.

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“I have to be in Merrick at 9-o-clock in the morning to open my store Saturday morning. So it might be a little challenging,” Merrick store owner Carol Sobczak said. “We’ll get there though.”

America’s largest township — Hempstead — readied salt and plows.

“We’re telling residents: Get prepared now. We’re getting prepared, we are now, to cover the 1,200 miles of road here in the Town of Hempstead,” said Town Supervisor Don Clavin. “We are getting the plows on the trucks, we’re putting salt on the back, we are gassing them up. We are gassing all of our extra equipment, in case trees come down.”

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LINK: Winter Storm Survival Guide

Others were getting an early run on groceries and stocking up on essentials.

“It’s been real cold, though, it’s been a cold winter,” Uniondale resident Golden Okoko said. “I don’t like snow. I want to go to Miami, to be honest.”

“Every time there is a snowstorm, I’m coming to do regular weekly shopping, and it’s packed,” said Levittown resident Anne Turkovich. “Who knows though, right? Hopefully it’s not bad and everybody’s safe. And if it’s on a weekend, maybe that will mean less people on the road, less people traveling and going to work.”

The Long Island Rail Road says it will begin salting tracks and stations Friday.

Animal welfare officials remind pet owners to please bring pets inside.

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