Residents: LIPA's Irene Response "Unacceptable"

After Tropical Storm Irene swept through Glen Cove and the surrounding area, it left behind over 500,000 power outages on Long Island, a number considered unprecedented in over 20 years, according to the .

Power quickly became the issue for most residents after the storm's initial passing, as evidenced by the packed coffee shops and restaurants, with many locals using the stores' power supplies and wireless internet access.

Eric Hall, President and CEO of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, said in order to maintain crucial communications, he worked in libraries and coffee shops throughout the duration of the outage.

"It wasn't that bad of a storm; what if it was worse?" said Hall, whose neighborhood regained power one week after the storm. "It was a really tough week. I'm not sure it should've took eight days to complete a task they finished in 45 minutes. I understand, everybody wants power all at the same time. But you'd imagine that with all the assets coming in from places like Illinois and Missouri, they'd be able to use them much more effectively. I also think that not engaging with the public is unacceptable, they kept telling us 'tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.'"

For pockets of residents outside of LIPA's major grids, assistance from elected officials proved instrumental in restoring power.

“If it weren't for Mayor Ralph Suozzi and State Senator Carl Marcellino, who both came down and phoned LIPA for us, we might not have had power back until much later,” said Brian Pemberton of Circle Drive, who had a partially fallen transformer in his backyard for several days.

Sen. Marcellino said he spoke with LIPA officials Thursday about the situation on Circle Drive, as residents were still without power.

"In Brian's case it was very difficult for LIPA, which is understandable," said Marcellino. "However, LIPA has not been effective in communicating with customers, and there's no excuse for that."

Residents of Daniel Drive said they would have planned accordingly if LIPA had explained the situation.

"All the stuff in our refrigerators went bad," said Jim Coniglione, resident and owner of . "It was ridiculous. If we knew we wouldn't have power for a week, we'd all have gone on vacation," said Coniglione, with unanimous agreement from neighbors.