As temperatures hover well below freezing for a third day this week, some Long Island residents still rebuilding after Sandy have been enduring the cold without any heat.
The problem for these Island Park residents, according to gas provider National Grid, is that moisture left from Sandy has frozen in the pipes carrying gas to heat the homes.
"You think that Sandy's over and it's not over," said homeowner Marty Lampart.
In all, some 80 homes in the area have been affected, according to National Grid spokeswoman Wendy Ladd.
The coldest weather gripped the tri-state Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures starting out in the teens and creeping up to the mid-20s during the day. Subzero wind chills are making the already freezing temperatures feel even colder.
National Grid has set up a command post in Island Park, as crews go house to house, trying to correct the problem.
Despite that effort, several homeowners said the heat has been coming on, then going out since Tuesday.
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"I knew it was out when I saw my breath this morning," said Ira Tennant, who has lost his heat, then regained it and lost it again.
Leonard D'Angelo, whose indoor thermostat read 56 degrees, said he wears outerwear just to get by inside.
"I'm dressed inside like I would be outside," he said.
Several homes along Kingston Boulevard in Island Park remain boarded up and damaged, nearly three months after Sandy. Some did not return to their homes and see heat restored until November.
National Grid says it will keep working in the area until the cold snap lifts. That might not be until Monday.
Anyone with heat issues is asked to call the National Grid hotline at 800- 930-5003.
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