Hundreds without power following strong thunderstorms

Top left: A view of the blinding rain from Port Jefferson (Photo Courtesy: M. Hammer). Top right: A radar image from just before 7 p.m. shows the storms rolling ashore (Map Courtesy: My Weather / Bing). Bottom: A LIPA generated graphic shows power outages following the storm (Graphic Courtesy: LIPA)

Smithtown, NY (SmithtownRadio.com) – A round of powerful thunderstorms Sunday evening knocked out electricity and flooded roadways across the greater Smithtown area.

Around 7 p.m., a cluster of strong thunderstorms moving southeast over the Long Island Sound moved onshore along Smithtown. A portion of the storm over central Suffolk County, including portions of Nesconset, Lake Ronkonkoma and Hauppauge, prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Severe Thunderstorm Warning.

Commack Fire Department crews heading to a house fire around 7:20 p.m. battled a flooded Jericho Turnpike and non-functioning traffic lights, caused by a power outage. At one point, LIPA reported nearly a thousand customers without power in Commack.

The heavy rainfall and storm runoff has lead Suffolk County health officials to issue a swimming advisory at five Smithtown-area North Shore beaches. Swimming at Callahans Beach, Long Beach, Nissequogue Point Beach, Schubert Beach and Short Beach is not-banned but swimmers are advised of the possibilities of being exposed to high-levels of dangerous bacterias as a result of the storm runoff.