Historic drought on Long Island continues despite rain

AAA, the Transport Security Administration and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey all predict the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record. 4.8 million New Yorkers are expected to drive 50 miles or more for the holiday, while major New York area airports are expecting 3.2 million passengers over the Thanksgiving period. Peter Gill reports in NEWSDAY that the Long Island Expressway is likely to experience the worst eastbound traffic at 4:30 p.m. on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, when trips are expected to take 2.3 times longer than normal, according to INRIX, a company that analyzes transportation data. Going west, the LIE is expected to have the worst traffic at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday Dec. 1, with trips taking 1.4 times longer than normal.


The busiest time to drive in New York City is likely to be Wednesday afternoon, when travelers are mixing with commuters, according to AAA.


The good news is that driving should be less expensive for you this year. The average Long Island gasoline price is $2.98 per gallon as of yesterday, down 48 cents from this time last year, mirroring a nationwide trend of falling prices, according to AAA data.


And the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it is suspending construction projects on its crossings — including the Lincoln and Holland tunnels as well as the George Washington, Bayonne and Goethals bridges — from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to early Dec. 2.


The TSA projects the three busiest travel days at airports nationwide will be next Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, Dec. 1.


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Las Vegas Sands looks to widen portions of the Meadowbrook Parkway as part of a $150 million plan to blunt the impact of a new casino-resort on the site of the Nassau Veteran's Memorial Coliseum, according to a draft environmental impact report released yesterday. Candice Ferrette reports in NEWSDAY that among the top mitigation measures proposed by the multibillion dollar Nevada-based company include adding one lane on each side of a stretch of the 90-year-old Meadowbrook from the Northern State to Hempstead Turnpike and spending an estimated $20 million to build a new well to supply water to the Coliseum site, homes and businesses around it, according to the report and Sands officials.


The 28,000-page environmental report, known as the DEIS, includes engineering studies of the project's impact on traffic, water, electricity and addresses noise and air pollution as well as public health and socioeconomic concerns.


The project has faced opposition from the "Say No To The Casino" civic group, which in a statement on Thursday reaffirmed its stance that the project will "produce economic harm, environmental harm, and egregious societal harm."


The project's supporters include construction and trades labor unions, local chambers of commerce and minority business groups who say the project would be a boon to the local economy.


Sands holds a 42-year lease that allows the company to operate the Nassau Coliseum but must complete the NYS environmental review to obtain a lease that would allow development of the property.


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Parched and fire weary Long Island’s rainy reprieve right now from the driest autumn in nearly six decades puts a pause on a regionwide three-month dry spell that began just days after an August downpour in northern Suffolk washed out homes, bridges and prompted a federal disaster declaration. Nicholas Grasso reports in NEWSDAY that from Aug. 21 — after the once-in-a-generation storm inundated several North Shore villages and towns on Long Island with 6 to 9 inches of rain — through this past Monday, the National Weather Service measured a collective 0.65 inches of rain in Suffolk County.


October ended as the single driest month on modern record, with just 0.12 inches of rain according to data from the National Weather Service.


The U.S. Drought Monitor, which reports drought conditions across the United States, continued to list Long Island and New York City in severe drought status amid the latest rain.


Nicholas Grasso reports in NEWSDAY that the U.S. Drought Monitor, which reports drought conditions across the United States, continued to list Long Island and New York City in severe drought status amid the latest rain.


"It's the worst we've seen in a long time with everything being so dry," said Riverhead Fire Department Chief JR Renten, days before substantial rain finally arrived overnight Wednesday and continued into early today. Renten said that on Nov. 9, his firefighters and others from well over a dozen departments eventually knocked down a 20-acre brush fire in Baiting Hollow.


The dry days, more often than not with more sun than clouds, have baked thick brush and other growth into piles of dry kindling that otherwise would be moistened after a normal fall rainy season.


As a result, Suffolk firefighters have battled more than 300 brush fires since Aug. 21, some within close range of dozens of homes, along with...