14 DAY TRIAL // In the aftermath of several days of heavy rains followed by an impressive snowfall, authorities in New York were left with no choice except evacuate a Long Island mall.
This was because several of the stores located inside the Smith Haven Mall witnessed major leaks, and those who got the opportunity to assess the situation expressed their fear that the mall's roof might eventually collapse.
Although for the time being nobody can say for sure whether or not the mall's roof will break down and fall, the fact remains that caution never harmed anybody.
Therefore, it is quite likely that the mall will remain closed to visitors at least for a couple more days. The Inquisitr quotes John Bongino, presently working as Smithtown building department director, who argued that some of the stores that reported leaks looked, “as if there was an open ceiling and it was raining.”
For those unaware, the Smith Haven is one of the largest malls on Long Island, meaning that it houses roughly 140 different stores.
Therefore, it need not come as a surprise that local authorities very much preferred evacuating it to risking the well-being of hundreds of potential customers.
The mall was evacuated this past Monday afternoon, and all went according to plan. Thus, members of fifteen different fire and police departments arrived at the scene and helped guide the mall's customers towards the exits.
John Bongino wished to make it quite clear that the mall would not be reopened to the general public until a trained structural engineer took their time to assess the situation.
Interestingly enough, the people in charge of running this mall seem to have had a rather difficult time deciding to evacuate. Thus, their Facebook posts with respect to the matter at hand went as follows:
“[3.30 p.m. EST] Please note, we are NOT closing or evacuating the mall. Due to the wet conditions, a few stores have roof leaks however the mall is open and operating. [5 p.m. EST] It turns out that some of you may be psychic? As a precaution due to leaks in the mall, we are closing Smith Haven Mall for the remainder of the day. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience.”