UPDATE: Island in good shape the morning after

Shelter Island Police Chief James Read said this morning that roads on the Island are plowed and overall, the Island is in good shape.

PSEG crews were here during the night and took care of the few outages that occurred. While the school and the Senior Center were prepared to provide emergency shelter, it wasn’t necessary.

Chief Read said the Town Board meeting at 2 p.m. today should proceed as scheduled.

Shelter Island Highway Department crews were out all night battling the blizzard that descended on the Island yesterday evening.

Highway Superintendent Jay Card Jr. said early Friday morning that the main challenge for his crews was a combination of high winds and light, fluffy snow.

“The wind is brutal,” Mr. Card said. “We make a pass on a road and the snow fills in right behind us. We’ll probably be chasing drifts all day.”

According to the National Weather Service, six inches of snow had fallen by 4 a.m. at its station in Upton. And power provider PSEG — who took over for the Long Island Power Authority on Wednesday — reported just a handful of outages on Long Island (39 to be exact) as of 6:47 a.m. The Island seemed to have been spared any major power cuts, Mr. Card said. Teh PSEG website showed five outages on the Island as of 8 a.m. Friday.

The department’s equipment held up relatively well through the night, except for windshield wipers freezing up, Mr. Card said. One truck had alternator problems and so was operating without running lights.

“Have patience with us,” Mr. Card said, adding that crews will be out until roads are made passable.