A bad thunder and hail storm hit us in the Great Neck, Little Neck, Douglaston and New Hyde Park area Aug. 1 and wreaked havoc for many of us. I was one of those caught in this storm.
I was in Great Neck, L.I., at the time and was getting on the N25 going toward Floral Park when the storm hit. I had just gotten aboard the 4:12 bus when the rain was getting heavy and it had flooded the whole south side of the station, where even the sidewalks were covered.
After this bus, I was to connect to the Q46 near the LIJ hospital on Lakeview Road. Now mind you, this trip was to take about 25 minutes to get to LIJ, but ended up taking about four hours. It was raining hard and all of a sudden we heard loud thunder and saw many lightening strikes. And if that was not enough, we saw large chunks of hail falling from the sky.
It got a little frightening, but most of us held back our fears. Our bus took quite a while to travel down Northern Boulevard and than make its turn up Community Drive. When we got half way up, the police had to turn us around. Our bus driver said to not worry because we would make a detour and go up Lakeview Road. It took us a long time because Northern Boulevard was slowly becoming a parking lot and we were lucky to be traveling 2 miles an hour.
Not to mention there were quite a few crazy drivers doing a lot of stupid moves that I felt were dangerous for all concerned. I must praise our bus driver, who kept his eyes on the road and kept us informed and safe. Our driver really knew what to do and did the right things. I guess he was aware that his passengers were his most important responsibility.
And he did it well and for that all of us on the N25 are grateful. As for myself, I got to LIJ at 7:45 p.m. and the Q46 had soon arrived. I got home to Glen Oaks Village at 8 p.m. weary but safe and sound.
Oh, and it was my birthday that day — one I will never forget.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Glen Oaks Village
