72 MPH Winds Reported in Syosset; Thousands Lose Power

Before the center of Hurricane Irene hit Long Island, thousands had already lost power in Syosset and Woodbury Monday. High winds as a result of Hurricane Sandy literally knocked Syosset lights out as the storm consumed the East Coast.

As of 10 p.m., according to Long Island Power Authority's outage map, 3,700 central Syosset residents were in the dark, along with almost 1,000 southern Syosset residents. Some 2,400 Syosset homes were without power north of downtown. At least 1,600 homes were reportedly in the dark in eastern Syosset and in Woodbury.

In addition, the National Weather Service reported 72 mile per hour gusts of wind in Syosset at 4:44 p.m. just as Sandy was coming ashore.

LIPA urged residents to report outages online or call either 800-490-0075 or 631-755-6900.

"In order to protect our crews, we are halting repairs until the storm ends. Thank you for you patience," they said Monday afternoon.

LIPA will reportedly send crews out beginning at 7 a.m. to start inspecting and repairing damage.

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