Long Beach School Board Prez Tells Fox News His Sandy Stories

Roy Lester, a Canals resident and president of the Long Beach Board of Education, talked about his pre- and post-Hurricane Sandy experiences on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning.  

In Fox’s Manhattan studio with guests Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade and Gretchen Carlson at 7:30 a.m., Lester told the first half of his and his family’s harrowing story on the night the hurricane slammed into Long Beach on Oct. 29. He explained the steps he took to barricade his home, but he knew early on that the coming storm spelled trouble for his home on Boyd Street.

“The second surge was ridiculous,” Lester said as video footage of his property and the devastated city accompanied his Fox segment. “By four o’clock in the afternoon it had crested over the bulkhead and I knew that we were still four hours from high tide.”  

Lester recalled what it was like to be powerless in the days following the storm. “The really frustrating part was not only were we without power, we were without information,” he said. “There was no way you could get hold of anybody.”

“ … Nobody really knows what was going on, nobody could really tell you,” he continued.    

Lester said that his power was finally restored yesterday, but like many homes in Long Beach, his circuit box was submerged in salt water due to flooding, further complicating electrical restoration. The minute he turned on his circuit breaker, smoke started to come from his box.  

“So then when the power came on, you know anyone that hadn’t shut off their power, their circuits were fried and could start fires,” said Lester, who has relocated with his family to Point Lookout.

Where does he go from here? When Kilmeade asked him if his flood insurance company evaluates his house yet, Lester said it hadn't but that he understands that they are inundated with claims.

Carlson asked Lester to explain a comment he had made about the Long Island Power Authority being “criminal.” He explained that he can’t understand how cables can be run under oceans but the utility company can’t run electrical cables underground, protecting them from downed trees during storms.  

“And you had the same thing a year ago,” Lester said, referring to Hurricane Irene in August 2011. “So you would figure that you would have some sort of planning and figure out a way.”