The Smith Haven Mall, one of the largest malls on Long Island, was evacuated Monday afternoon when its roof began to leak from a rainstorm only days after Winter Storm Nemo slammed the area with three feet of snow.
The mall was cleared by 4 p.m. after significant leaks were reported in more than two dozen stores, and police feared the roof would collapse, The Associated Press reported.
It looked "almost as if there was an open ceiling and it was raining in one store," Smithtown building department director Jon Bongino told the Associated Press.
It took about an hour to evacuate the 140 stores in the Smith Haven Mall, Paul Llobell, deputy fire coordinator for Suffolk County told the Associated Press. He added that the evacuation went smoothly and no injuries were reported. Fifteen fire and police departments from around the county reported to the scene, The Associated Press reported.
In one spot on the roof, Llobell told the Associated Press, there was a seven-foot snow drift.
Bongino told the Associated Press that mall management will need to call in a structural engineer to determine the mall's structural safety and when it's safe to reopen -- a step that will be taken in coordination with the Town of Smithtown Building Department.
When heavy rains hit on Monday, areas of Long Island were still cleaning up from Saturday's snowstorm, which buried some parts of the island and stranded drivers, according to the Associated Press.Over the weekend, roofs collapsed at a Suffolk County bowling alley, and in someone's home.
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