Heavy Rains, Potholes On Northern State Parkway Leave Dozens Of Tires Flat
PLAINVIEW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Dozens of frustrated drivers found themselves stranded on the side of the road with flat tires during this past weekend's heavy rainfall.
And as CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported, those drivers wanted answers from the New York State Department of Transportation on the construction nightmare.
One by one, dozens of cars piled up Saturday night for about a mile stretch through Plainview, Long Island on the eastbound side of the Northern State Parkway, all with flat tires. Debra Gallo and her mother were caught up in the mess.
"We just heard, 'Boom,' and we realized the car had two flat tires," Gallo said. "We get over to pull over on the side of the road; we realized a lot of other cars had pulled over there."
The state DOT blamed Mother Nature for causing all the flat tires. Last Thursday, the department said two to three inches of asphalt were removed from the Northern State as part of a repaving project, and the heavy rains Saturday night tore up the road and created massive potholes.
The DOT said it was all an "unpredictable, unforeseen situation."
Tommy Nuss, owner of Bang's Towing in Amityville, said he has never seen anything like Saturday's mishap. He estimated helping about 60 stranded drivers.
"There was about a mile, mile and a half full of cars with flat tires; two flat tires; rims were bent," Nuss said. "As we were standing there -- helping the people; changing their tires or towing them off -- more cars were pulling off and getting on line."
The DOT has offered to pay for vehicles damaged Saturday night on the Northern State Parkway. But drivers such as Gallo said this should have never happened.
"The road should have been shut down," Gallo said. "At 9 o'clock at night when it originally happened, they should have closed the road down."
Work on the affected portion of the Northern State Parkway resumed again Monday night. The DOT told CBS2 it expects the work to be done on Wednesday.
Anyone whose car was damaged and is looking to submit their claim to the DOT is asked to call (718) 446-7000, ext. 210.
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