Mall evacuated: Roof collapse likely post-blizzard
| LAKE GROVE, N.Y.
One of the biggest聽malls聽on Long Island was聽evacuated聽Monday because of major roof leaks after a rainstorm followed nearly 3 feet of snow, police said.
The Smith 贬补惫别苍听惭补濒濒听颈苍 Suffolk County was cleared by 4 p.m. Monday after significant leaks were detected in more than two dozen stores. Police worried the roof could collapse.
Smithtown Building Department Director John Bongino said that in one of the stores it looked "almost as if there was an open ceiling and it was raining."
The Smith Haven聽Mall聽has more than 140 stores. It took about an hour to聽evacuate聽it, said Paul Llobell, deputy fire coordinator for Suffolk County.
Llobell said that in one location on the roof there was a 7-foot snow drift.
The聽evacuation聽went smoothly, and no injuries were reported, he said.
Fifteen fire and police departments from around the county responded to the scene.
Bongino said聽mall聽management will have to call in a structural engineer to determine the聽mall's聽structural safety and when it can be reopened. He said it will be done in coordination with the Town of Smithtown Building Department.
Saturday's snowstorm buried parts of the island and stranded motorists. Cleanup was still under way Monday when heavy rains hit.
Roofs collapsed over the weekend at a bowling alley in the county and a home.
