"These guys are exhausted," Mr. Lesko said. "They were on the road at 6 p.m. Saturday through Monday. They were working 24/7. These guys were on fumes."

Mr. Lesko said despite complaints from residents whose streets hadn't been fully cleared, he believed the highway workers were doing the best job they could. He said the town was tracking progress through GPS systems and that nothing indicated a lack of productivity on anyone's part.

"It was obviously a huge storm," Mr. Lesko said Tuesday. "Of course we ended up having people who were concerned that we couldn't get to their road quickly. But we're out there and these guys are doing a good job."

Mr. Rouse said the top priority for the town was making sure its residents were safe.

"I'm very pleased to know that there has not been one documented case of an emergency call impaired by the lack of clearing of a road," Mr. Rouse said.

The highway superintendent said a hierarchy was used to determine which roads were paved first. Once an initial path was cleared on all roads, workers focused their efforts first on major thoroughfares. Dead-ends and cul-de-sacs received the lowest priority.

Mr. Rouse said the biggest problem in clearing the roads came from cars parked in the street. This was particularly challenging in hilly parts of Rocky Point and Sound Beach.

Councilwoman Jane Bonner, who represents the Rocky Point and Sound Beach area, said despite some constituent complaints she believed the highway department did a good job under difficult circumstances.

"It was a record snowfall," she said. "You do the best you can in a blizzard and they've done that."

The road conditions made it difficult for area schools to assess whether or not they would be able to hold classes Monday. Four of the five local school districts ended up closing, with only Rocky Point opening its doors to students and staff. The Miller Place School District even had a delayed start Tuesday.

Administrators said the biggest battle was getting the campuses ready to open back up.

"It took a herculean effort on the part of our operations and maintenance crew to clear the lots and sidewalks in order to ensure that our campuses were safe for students and staff for this morning's opening," Longwood superintendent Allan Gerstenlauer said Tuesday.

"The crew also checked on the buildings from midnight Saturday through 6 a.m. Tuesday. This morning was a difficult opening because of the road conditions. Buses were delayed, but everyone arrived safely, and that's always our top priority."

The district also credited Stan Kazel of Dawn Housemovers and Johnny Liere of Liere Bros. in Yaphank, along with Residential Fence in Ridge, for donating payloaders that helped clear the parking lots at each of the district's schools.

The town warned businesses to pay attention to their own roofs in an effort to avoid collapses. The roof of at least one local business -- the Valero gas station in Mount Sinai -- caved in Sunday.

Of course residents also had the concern of clearing their own driveways and protecting their properties during and after the storm.

Chuck Wildner said he was up from Florida visiting family in Ridge for the holidays when the storm hit.

"It took me, my son-in-law and my two grandkids about five hours to clear out their driveway," the retired schoolteacher said. "We got done just in time to watch the Jets lose."

gparpan@northshoresun.com

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