[0:10] Well

[0:13] good morning, everyone. Welcome

[0:15] to Huntington Town Hall. I'm

[0:16] town supervisor

[0:18] Ed Smith. We're here for an

[0:21] emergency preparedness

[0:21] conference and, uh, a

[0:24] uh, introduction of many of the

[0:25] experts that will

[0:27] be called upon in the event of

[0:28] an emergency in

[0:31] the town. Also some advice to

[0:31] our residents on what they

[0:34] can do to prepare for any type

[0:35] of weather emergency, while

[0:38] the focus of this today would be

[0:38] on a warm weather emergency such

[0:42] as a hurricane or heavy winds or

[0:42] rain. Much of it applies

[0:46] to winter storms as well,

[0:47] whether it's a blizzard or an

[0:47] ice storm.

[0:50] Uh, as I a Huntington town

[0:50] supervisor Ed Smith, and

[0:53] with me today, I will hold the

[0:54] applause until the end because I

[0:54] have

[0:58] quite a, quite a long list of

[0:58] experts that we'll be

[1:01] hearing from many of, starting

[1:02] with uh Andre Sorrentino

[1:06] our highway superintendent. A

[1:06] fire marshal Paul Lotuso.

[1:10] Emergency preparedness

[1:10] coordinator Mike Pastore.

[1:11] Director of

[1:15] Public Safety Chris Lau. Our

[1:15] director of it, Dave Genoway.

[1:19] Our director of Environmental

[1:20] waste Management, John Clark.

[1:23] Our director of Maritime

[1:24] Services, Fred Uvina. Our animal

[1:28] shelter supervisor, Michael

[1:29] Costa. Director of Parks and Rec

[1:32] Todd Jamison Deputy Director of

[1:32] Parks and Recreation. Rob Conti

[1:35] Deputy director of

[1:36] Transportation and traffic

[1:36] Safety

[1:39] Scott Spittle. Director of Human

[1:40] Services Kevin

[1:43] Thorborn, director of General

[1:43] Services Bill Musto. And in

[1:44] addition, we have with

[1:47] us from the 2nd precinct today,

[1:48] we have Inspector Kevin Williams

[1:48] We also

[1:51] have a warning coordinator,

[1:52] meteorologist Nelson Vaz from

[1:52] the National Weather

[1:56] Service. In addition, we have

[1:57] Lorraine Mayer from Huntington

[1:57] Hospital who

[2:00] is also on the Suffolk County

[2:03] Emergency operations committee

[2:03] and Greg MAY and

[2:07] Lee h Beck from Island Harvest.

[2:07] And joining

[2:10] me from out of Huntington, we

[2:10] have Sal Farrow and

[2:13] I have everyone's favorite

[2:15] receiver of taxes, Gillian

[2:16] Guthman. So

[2:18] So today, we're here

[2:21] to discuss weather preparedness.

[2:21] Uh, we

[2:24] we just witnessed Hurricane

[2:25] Aaron grow from a

[2:28] category 1 to a category 5

[2:28] hurricane in just 24 hours. Uh

[2:32] I highlight that just to

[2:32] illustrate how quickly storms

[2:32] can

[2:35] develop and go from a very small

[2:36] storm to a very big one with

[2:36] very

[2:40] little warning. Nelson Vaz, our

[2:41] expert from the National Weather

[2:41] Service

[2:45] will speak a little bit more

[2:45] about that in a few minutes. The

[2:46] next major life

[2:49] disrupting storm is just a

[2:50] question of when, hopefully not

[2:50] any time soon,

[2:54] but it's important that that

[2:54] your government is prepared for

[2:55] that eventuality.

[2:59] The town has a fully functional

[2:59] and equipped emergency

[2:59] operations center

[3:03] or eoc that is functioning and

[3:03] ready to go In the event of

[3:07] a hurricane or other weather

[3:08] emergency, the eoc would be

[3:08] activated and used

[3:12] to coordinate first responders

[3:13] and other government agencies on

[3:13] a continuing

[3:16] basis throughout the duration of

[3:17] the emergency. The Huntington

[3:17] eoc is equipped

[3:21] with a fully functional kitchen

[3:21] and office space with uh

[3:21] workstations as

[3:25] well. It's operational 24 hours

[3:26] a day throughout the

[3:30] uh emergency. Redundancy of all

[3:31] town functions takes place

[3:31] there. It's fully

[3:35] stocked. With fuel tanks open

[3:35] communications by and with all

[3:35] of our law

[3:39] enforcement and fire services.

[3:40] It has cloud-based technology

[3:40] allowing telephone, computer

[3:44] and and camera services to

[3:44] ensure full communications and

[3:45] options for constant

[3:48] public safety and emergency

[3:49] response. For the town and the

[3:52] citizens both, the time to

[3:53] prepare is now, not when the

[3:53] storm is days away.

[3:57] My office has produced an

[3:57] emergency preparedness handbook

[3:58] to inform residents

[4:02] on how they should be prepared

[4:03] for a hurricane. And

[4:06] it provides them with resources

[4:06] for emergency updates before

[4:10] during, and after a storm. There

[4:11] will be hard copies available

[4:15] in town hall. In town senior

[4:15] center as well as digital

[4:16] downloads available

[4:20] on the town's website at

[4:20] Huntingtonny.Gov and I will tell

[4:20] you also that there

[4:24] are very similar guidebooks

[4:25] available on fema's

[4:29] website state emergency County

[4:29] emergency, and practically any

[4:29] emergency website

[4:33] will have a similar guide and it

[4:33] will also, there'll also

[4:37] be very specific guides online

[4:37] if

[4:39] your circumstances in at home

[4:40] warranted whether you have

[4:40] somebody

[4:43] with special needs, whether you

[4:44] have pets, whether you have

[4:47] uh boats or you have equipment

[4:48] in your yard or anything like

[4:48] that, that

[4:51] will be very specific emergency

[4:52] preparedness guidelines

[4:52] available for you.

[4:56] So this is a very general one,

[4:56] but I would encourage you to go

[4:56] online and,

[5:00] and find one specific to

[5:01] whatever circumstances that you

[5:01] MAY have so that

[5:05] you are prepared in the event of

[5:05] an emergency. So without further

[5:05] ado, I

[5:09] am going to call on our highway

[5:10] superintendent, whether he likes

[5:10] it or not.

[5:14] Andre Sorrentino, to say a few

[5:14] words about our roadways. Thank

[5:14] you. So

[5:19] the biggest thing I have to say

[5:19] is being safe

[5:22] So if you see a tree down and

[5:23] there's wires in it, leave

[5:27] it alone. Don't touch it, just

[5:27] let the guys and girls come and

[5:28] take care

[5:31] of it. We will make sure, call

[5:32] it in, let the emergency people

[5:32] take care

[5:35] of what they got to take care of

[5:36] and try and stay safe. The

[5:36] biggest thing

[5:40] I can say is make sure you

[5:41] generate a batteries. Work,

[5:41] don't go out there

[5:45] if we have a storm and go out

[5:46] there and try and start your

[5:46] generators and

[5:49] they don't work because you

[5:50] haven't tested them. So the

[5:50] biggest thing I

[5:54] can say is be safe, call us,

[5:54] we'll come. I've been through a.

[5:59] 3 or 4 different hurricanes in

[5:59] my time and the biggest thing I

[5:59] can say is

[6:03] just let us do what we have to

[6:04] do. Let the fire departments do

[6:04] what they

[6:07] have to do to first responders.

[6:08] If you see something and you're

[6:08] thinking

[6:12] it might have wires in it, leave

[6:13] it alone, just be safe, let us

[6:13] do what

[6:17] we have to do to make your life

[6:18] better. Thank you. Thank you

[6:21] Andre, and uh, and one of the

[6:21] things even

[6:24] when it's not a, a full blown

[6:25] emergency but in, in

[6:28] during snowstorms, uh, I know

[6:28] Andre is, is is.

[6:31] Adamant about this. Please, if

[6:32] you can get your cars off the

[6:32] road so that the

[6:36] highway department can plow curb

[6:36] to curb, which is what they do

[6:36] best. And

[6:40] at this time I would like to

[6:41] give a scientific perspective on

[6:41] the issue

[6:44] from us, from the National

[6:45] Weather Service with us today,

[6:45] we have Nelson

[6:48] Vaz. Nelson. Yeah, good

[6:51] morning everyone, and uh

[6:51] pleasure to be here. Uh

[6:55] um, you know, with, with, uh,

[6:55] town supervisor, um, and

[6:58] also all the public safety

[6:58] officials from the

[7:01] the Hunting the. This is always,

[7:02] is really, um, you know

[7:05] a great time ahead of the, the

[7:05] peak of

[7:08] the hurricane season to kind of

[7:08] just refresh

[7:12] uh with our community, with each

[7:12] other, um, you know

[7:15] what are we, what are we doing?

[7:16] How are we preparing for the

[7:16] hurricane

[7:19] season, and I think this is a

[7:20] great event anytime we can reach

[7:20] out to the

[7:24] public as well to get people

[7:25] thinking about, all right, am I

[7:25] prepared for

[7:29] this hurricane season? And you

[7:29] know, uh, as a town supervisor

[7:29] said, we,

[7:33] we did dodge a Hurricane Aaron,

[7:34] which was a major hurricane just

[7:34] uh, you

[7:37] know, tracking about 350 miles

[7:38] southeast of Long Island, you

[7:38] know

[7:41] last week, and you know, so far

[7:42] this season's been a little bit

[7:42] of

[7:45] a slow start. We've had 6 named

[7:46] storms, one of

[7:49] which did become a hurricane,

[7:49] uh, you know, Aaron, and

[7:52] a major hurricane. Um, so, you

[7:52] know

[7:55] but you know, not to be

[7:55] complacent

[7:58] about that because we are

[7:59] heading to the peak of hurricane

[7:59] season, which

[8:02] is in early SEPTEMBER, SEPTEMBER

[8:03] 10th is the climatological peak,

[8:03] but really,

[8:07] we can see hurricane activity.

[8:07] Through SEPTEMBER through

[8:08] OCTOBER, if you

[8:11] remember Sandy was at the end of

[8:12] OCTOBER, even into early

[8:12] NOVEMBER, we can

[8:16] see tropical activity. So as

[8:16] we're going into the peak of

[8:16] season, this is

[8:20] an important time for us. If you

[8:21] haven't prepared already to get

[8:21] prepared,

[8:25] and from our partners at the

[8:25] climate prediction Center and

[8:25] the National

[8:29] Hurricane Center, uh, they did

[8:29] update the hurricane outlook in

[8:30] early AUGUST,

[8:33] and so we're still looking for a

[8:34] 13 to 18 named storms

[8:37] 5 to 9 of which potentially

[8:37] could be hurricanes, and we did

[8:38] have one hurricane

[8:41] already. And 2 to 5 major

[8:42] hurricanes. That's across the

[8:42] Atlantic hurricane,

[8:46] uh, the, the Atlantic Basin. Um,

[8:46] so not necessarily they're going

[8:46] to make

[8:50] landfall, but you know, still

[8:50] looking for that uptick and

[8:51] almost

[8:54] 3 quarter of the season or 2/3

[8:55] of the activity to be in the

[8:55] next few months

[8:59] So something if you haven't

[8:59] prepared, we certainly want

[9:00] everybody to start

[9:03] thinking about are we fully

[9:04] prepared? And, and remember,

[9:04] even if it's gonna,

[9:08] even if it was uh looking at

[9:08] something that is not

[9:08] necessarily

[9:12] an active season. It only takes

[9:13] one storm for really for it to

[9:13] be potentially

[9:17] life changing, destructive and

[9:17] deadly. So we need to think

[9:17] about that. And

[9:21] and it is a preparedness

[9:22] challenge for us because most

[9:22] residents have not

[9:26] experienced the hurricane. It's

[9:26] been you know 40 years since we

[9:26] saw

[9:30] uh Hurricane Gloria make

[9:30] landfall in this area. Uh, 1985

[9:33] i was, you know, at that time I

[9:34] was 5 years old, or sorry, 10

[9:34] years old

[9:37] But if you're in your mid-40s,

[9:38] uh, you probably haven't, uh, or

[9:41] or younger, you probably don't

[9:42] remember Hurricane Gloria. And

[9:42] then if you

[9:46] go um in terms of a major and

[9:46] when we're talking about a

[9:47] hurricane, we're

[9:50] talking about 74 mile per hour

[9:51] sustained winds and even higher

[9:51] gusts Now

[9:55] when you talk about a major

[9:55] hurricane, uh, like Aaron was,

[9:56] where you're talking

[9:59] about 111 mile per hour

[10:00] sustained winds, you know, gusts

[10:00] maybe 140

[10:04] 150 mph. We haven't seen that

[10:04] since the 1954

[10:07] Hurricane Carol, so you're

[10:07] talking about, um, you know

[10:10] over 70 years ago, and so most

[10:13] of our most of our population

[10:13] does not

[10:16] have an experience with a major

[10:16] hurricane, which is really

[10:20] a destructive catastrophic type

[10:20] of hurricane

[10:23] and as town supervisor was

[10:23] saying, uh, unfortunately for

[10:24] our area it's not

[10:27] a question of, you know, is it

[10:28] gonna happen? It's, it's more

[10:31] a question of when it's going to

[10:31] happen. You

[10:36] just climatologically, we should

[10:37] be seeing a hurricane in our

[10:37] area, uh,

[10:41] you know, based on 150 year

[10:41] period. Every 15 to 20 years we

[10:41] do see a hurricane.

[10:45] And so again, it's been 40

[10:45] years. Um, and then every 70

[10:46] years ago or so.

[10:49] Climatologically a major

[10:50] hurricane. And so we're kind of

[10:50] right up on that

[10:53] time period. Not that it's going

[10:54] to happen like clockwork, but I

[10:54] think just

[10:57] again we need to keep that in

[10:58] mind. The longer we go without

[10:58] seeing it, a

[11:02] landfalling hurricane, the

[11:02] greater the chances, um, as each

[11:03] year progresses.

[11:06] But remember, we don't even need

[11:07] a hurricane. Excuse me, we don't

[11:07] even need

[11:11] a hurricane land falling in the

[11:12] area for it to be a deadly and

[11:12] destructive

[11:16] event. We did have excuse me, we

[11:16] did have Sandy in 2012, um, it

[11:16] was a, not

[11:20] to get too scientific, but it

[11:21] was a post-tropical hurricane

[11:21] making landfall

[11:25] on southern New Jersey, but it's

[11:25] still brought very strong

[11:26] high-end tropical

[11:30] storm force winds, um, which, as

[11:30] we know, we had 77 fatalities in

[11:31] the local tri-state

[11:35] area. Most due to the storm

[11:35] surge was that that big storm

[11:35] pushing water

[11:39] towards our coast and our

[11:39] coastlines gotten hit very hard.

[11:40] Destructive storm

[11:43] surge, deadly storm surge, but

[11:44] we still had 20 plus fatal ities

[11:44] due to wind,

[11:47] and that was not even from a

[11:48] hurricane level winds in our

[11:48] area. We of course

[11:52] had Issaeus in 2020, just a

[11:53] mid-grade tropical storm, but we

[11:53] had a

[11:57] lot of power outages, a lot of

[11:57] trees down, some, some parts of

[11:58] the area without

[12:01] power for 1 week to 10 days. Um,

[12:02] and then we also had Ida, which

[12:05] was actually what we call a

[12:06] remnant low pressure system from

[12:06] a

[12:09] tropical system. So this was a

[12:10] category 3 that made landfall, a

[12:10] major

[12:14] hurricane mid landfall on the

[12:14] Gulf Coast, but it came up here

[12:14] as a

[12:17] weakened storm, but inherently

[12:18] had a lot of moisture inter act

[12:18] ed with

[12:22] the instability and the, you

[12:22] know, some of the lift in the

[12:22] area, and we

[12:26] ended up with a deadly rainfall

[12:27] event, 20 plus fatalities in

[12:30] the tri-state area. So just to

[12:31] say that, um, a lot of time we

[12:31] want to focus

[12:35] on, you know, uh, what is the

[12:35] intensity of the uh of the, of

[12:36] the storm?

[12:39] What's the track of the storm?

[12:40] Uh, we're following like maybe

[12:40] that skinny

[12:44] black line, that cone. But it's

[12:44] really important to remember

[12:44] that the impacts

[12:48] can be a lot greater than that,

[12:49] and we don't need just we don't

[12:49] even need

[12:53] a hurricane in our area to

[12:53] really have deadly and

[12:53] destructive events. So

[12:57] I think it's important for us to

[12:57] stay aware through the through

[12:58] the season.

[13:01] Um, you know, pay attention to

[13:02] your official forecast from the

[13:02] National

[13:05] Hurricane Center. Pay attention

[13:06] to our media, uh, partners who

[13:06] are relaying

[13:10] those forecasts. Pay attention

[13:10] to our public safety officials

[13:11] who are providing

[13:14] guidance. We're continuously

[13:15] working with our public safety

[13:15] officials ahead

[13:19] of big storms. To provide them

[13:19] the best information so that

[13:19] they can make

[13:23] the best decisions to keep our

[13:23] community safe, um, and just,

[13:24] you know, just,

[13:27] uh, and I like I said, don't

[13:28] focus on maybe the, the track,

[13:28] the exact track

[13:31] or the intensity of the center

[13:32] of the storm. You want to pay

[13:32] attention to

[13:36] these national Weather Service

[13:36] alerts do we have the potential

[13:37] for tropical

[13:40] storm force winds or hurricane

[13:41] force winds in our area. Pay

[13:41] attention to

[13:44] Tropical storm watches and

[13:45] warnings that were issued.

[13:45] Hurricane watches

[13:49] and warnings, that tells you the

[13:50] wind hazard, but as as I also

[13:50] said, there's

[13:54] a storm surge hazard. Pay

[13:54] attention. Do we have uh storm

[13:55] surge watches or

[13:58] warnings for that potential for

[13:59] deadly storm surge affecting our

[13:59] area. How

[14:03] about heavy rainfall, extreme

[14:03] rainfall, we've seen more of

[14:04] those type of

[14:07] events that can be a threat to

[14:07] anywhere. Do we have flood

[14:08] watches up? So

[14:12] pay y y y y y y y ofse type ype of information, the

[14:12] for r r e cast

[14:16] information, what are the

[14:17] hazards and impacts going to be

[14:17] on our area and

[14:21] not so much as the center of the

[14:21] storm going to affect our area?

[14:21] Just a

[14:25] couple more things. 80% of

[14:26] fatalities from tropical storms

[14:26] and from tropical

[14:30] systems, excuse me, are due to

[14:30] the water. So, um, in one of the

[14:30] things that

[14:34] we have is to run from the water

[14:35] and hide from the winds. So when

[14:35] you're

[14:38] talking about water, it could be

[14:39] freshwater flooding, it could be

[14:39] storm

[14:43] surge flooding. It could be rip

[14:44] currents. That could be another

[14:44] one. It

[14:47] could be even on the marine, but

[14:48] 80% of fatalities due to

[14:48] tropical storms

[14:52] across, you know, uh, the

[14:52] Atlantic and the eastern United

[14:53] States coast.

[14:56] Think about that, are due to

[14:57] water and not necessarily the

[14:57] wind hazards.

[15:01] So, um, you know, we, we think

[15:02] about storm surge, we especially

[15:02] have a lot

[15:05] of susceptibility on our north

[15:06] shore here. Um, you know,

[15:06] whether you're

[15:09] talking about Huntington Harbor,

[15:10] Cold Spring Harbor, all the way

[15:10] up to Asherroin.

[15:14] These are all areas that, you

[15:15] know, can be affected,

[15:15] especially we have

[15:19] that open expanse of the Long

[15:20] Island Sound. We talk about our

[15:20] kind of we

[15:24] have terrain here and especially

[15:25] in the town of Huntington, kind

[15:25] of 300

[15:28] 400 ft of uh difference in

[15:29] terrain, um, that if you get a

[15:29] lot of heavy rain,

[15:33] those low lying areas could get

[15:33] affected and and areas that are

[15:33] a little

[15:37] more organized organized. So are

[15:38] you in an area that potentially

[15:38] could get

[15:41] affected by storm surge or by

[15:42] flooding. You, you're in a low

[15:42] lying area,

[15:46] residents need to think about

[15:46] that as well. And so I think

[15:46] these are, you

[15:50] know, as we're going into the

[15:51] season, um, you know, think

[15:51] about the following

[15:55] steps. First, finding out from

[15:55] your public safety officials, if

[15:55] you don't

[15:59] know, are you in a storm surge

[16:00] flood zone? Are you in an area

[16:00] that's prone

[16:04] to freshwater flooding. You can

[16:05] find that out from your public

[16:05] safety officials,

[16:08] and if you are having an

[16:09] evacuation plan because again,

[16:09] we work with our

[16:13] public safety officials to give

[16:13] them the best information. If

[16:14] they're making

[16:18] a decision that you should

[16:18] evacuate, um, he that with a,

[16:18] with a lot of um,

[16:22] you know, with a lot of

[16:22] intensity because that is

[16:23] information that they,

[16:26] they're making those decisions

[16:27] based on the based on the best

[16:27] information

[16:30] and to help protect lives and

[16:31] property. So if you're told to

[16:31] evacuate, uh,

[16:35] it's important to have a plan

[16:36] where you're gonna go? What are

[16:36] you gonna

[16:40] take with you? Uh, who are you

[16:41] gonna tell? Um, you know, and

[16:41] remember your

[16:45] pets as well. Um, if you're not

[16:45] in a flood zone, then all right,

[16:45] think about

[16:49] sheltering, but when you're

[16:50] sheltering, do you have an

[16:50] emergency preparedness

[16:54] kit? A disaster supply kit,

[16:54] having at least 3 days of food,

[16:55] water, medicine,

[16:59] any batteries, kind of anything,

[16:59] any essentials that basically

[16:59] you can you

[17:03] can keep yourself, for those 3

[17:04] to 5 days, potentially keep

[17:04] yourself self-sufficient

[17:07] until first responders can get

[17:08] to you. And then also this is

[17:08] the time to

[17:12] kind of think about, you know,

[17:12] your home insurance, checking

[17:12] your home,

[17:16] the strength, um, you know, is

[17:17] there anything, any

[17:17] vulnerabilities around

[17:21] my house that will affect my

[17:21] property? Or, or my home that

[17:22] could, that could

[17:26] harm somebody ahead of a storm.

[17:26] So these are all things that we

[17:26] want to

[17:30] take into account now before a

[17:30] storm hits and just you know,

[17:30] last thing,

[17:34] even after the storm, I think uh

[17:34] one of the things we've seen is,

[17:35] um, over

[17:39] the last 10 years, there's been

[17:39] almost as many fatalities after

[17:40] a storm,

[17:43] as during the storm. So I think

[17:44] we want to think about, um, are

[17:44] we, um,

[17:47] when we're, when we're cleaning

[17:48] up and after the storm, are we

[17:48] susceptible

[17:52] to electrical elelectrocution. You

[17:52] know, take things slowly, loss

[17:52] of power,

[17:56] proper use of generators as was

[17:56] discussed before, improper use

[17:57] of generators,

[18:01] you know, unfortunately, carbon

[18:01] monoxide poisoning and then also

[18:01] just your

[18:06] exposure without, without the uh

[18:06] electricity, you don't have air

[18:06] conditioning.

[18:10] Uh, check on those who might be

[18:11] more susceptible to either heat

[18:11] or even

[18:15] cold. So with all that, um, you

[18:15] know, I think really important

[18:15] again, stay

[18:19] whether aware heed the advice of

[18:20] your public safety officials.

[18:20] Excuse me,

[18:26] and then we will, um, and rest

[18:29] assured that we are continuously

[18:29] working

[18:30] with your public safety

[18:31] officials for them, helping them

[18:31] with the best information

[18:35] so they can make the best

[18:36] decisions and to make sure that

[18:36] we are already

[18:39] responsive and resilient

[18:40] community. So thank you for

[18:40] that. Thank you, Nelson

[18:44] Vaz from the National Weather

[18:45] Service. And uh there's a lot of

[18:45] information

[18:49] there, but all excellent advice

[18:50] to follow. Our following now is

[18:50] from public

[18:54] safety, uh, excuse me, from the

[18:54] Suffolk County Police

[18:54] Department. I would

[18:58] like to introduce Inspector

[18:58] Kevin Williams from the 2nd

[18:59] precinct. Good morning

[19:02] everybody, and, uh, thank you

[19:03] for inviting me today. Uh, that

[19:03] was quite

[19:07] a lot of good information. That

[19:07] you just got there. I'm

[19:07] certainly no, um,

[19:11] hurricane expert, but, um, I

[19:11] can't talk about responding to

[19:12] these types

[19:15] of emergencies. I've experienced

[19:16] many of them in my career. Um.

[19:16] One thing

[19:20] I would like to say is that uh I

[19:20] speak with my command staff on a

[19:20] regular

[19:24] basis about the relationship we

[19:25] have with the town officials and

[19:25] all the

[19:29] cooperation and, um,

[19:29] communication we have with them.

[19:30] And I'm truly fortunate

[19:33] to be able to work with such

[19:34] professionals, Ed Andre, Chris,

[19:34] Public safety.

[19:38] Anytime we ask for any kind of

[19:38] resources or help They're always

[19:39] there to

[19:43] help us out. So, uh, whether

[19:43] it's a parade or a festival or

[19:43] like a serious

[19:47] storm that's coming up. Uh, we

[19:47] can always rely on them. So

[19:48] thank you for

[19:52] that. I really appreciate that.

[19:52] Uh, when it comes to the

[19:53] precinct, we have

[19:56] a, uh, emergency preparedness

[19:57] plan. We used to call it a

[19:57] hurricane plan

[20:00] We update that on an annual

[20:01] basis. Um. So in that plan is,

[20:01] uh, ways that

[20:05] we can deploy our resources and

[20:05] personnel. To problem areas that

[20:06] we've experienced

[20:09] in the past from past

[20:10] experience. Um, we also have

[20:10] many contact numbers for

[20:14] all the municipalities that we

[20:14] need to be uh, that we need to

[20:15] have contact with

[20:19] all our critical, uh, locations,

[20:19] hospitals,

[20:23] medical buildings, things like

[20:23] that. So

[20:26] we are certainly up to date on

[20:26] that, um we will bring an

[20:30] extra personnel to respond to

[20:30] all the emergencies. Um.

[20:34] On the police department side

[20:35] and headquarters, they operate

[20:35] what they

[20:39] call the police operations

[20:39] center. Uh, and we're in contact

[20:43] with them probably on an hourly

[20:44] basis they coordinate between

[20:44] all the precincts.

[20:48] They have a lot of contacts for

[20:48] state and and other um

[20:52] resources that we MAY need, so

[20:53] we can go through headquarters,

[20:53] uh, and

[20:57] and they have direct contact

[20:57] with the county people also in

[20:57] the Fres

[21:02] uh, headquarters. So that's kind

[21:02] of how we do it when we get a, a

[21:03] big storm. I

[21:06] just talk a little bit about

[21:07] maybe the public's cooperation

[21:07] uh, when

[21:10] Ed or maybe the county exec puts

[21:11] out a warning that like, you

[21:11] know, people, please

[21:15] stay off the roadways. Um,

[21:15] unless you're like a first

[21:16] responder or someone in

[21:19] the medical field that really

[21:20] needs to be driving around in

[21:20] these storms.

[21:24] It would, it would, we, we, uh,

[21:24] expect that you heed these

[21:24] warnings because

[21:28] we tend to have to waste

[21:29] resources rescuing people,

[21:29] whether it's in a puddle

[21:33] or a tree branch falls down. So

[21:33] I mean, uh, we usually get

[21:34] overwhelmed with

[21:37] the amount of calls and, uh a

[21:38] lot of times we'll have a

[21:38] backlog So like

[21:42] if you just take that advice and

[21:42] stay at home until the storm

[21:43] passes and maybe

[21:46] shortly afterwards too. Andre

[21:47] mentioned why is down. That's a

[21:47] serious danger.

[21:51] It's one of the things, uh that

[21:51] we're always concerned about,

[21:52] you know,

[21:55] you never know if the Warriors

[21:56] alive or not. I worry about my

[21:56] officers when

[22:00] they respond to those calls as

[22:00] well. So, um, you know, if you

[22:00] could just

[22:04] take some of those warnings and,

[22:05] uh, make our job a little bit

[22:05] easier. That's

[22:10] great. We are, I am very

[22:10] confident that we are well

[22:11] prepared. If we do have

[22:15] some type of serious storm

[22:16] coming up in the future. And,

[22:16] uh, that's about

[22:20] it ok, thank you Thank you,

[22:21] Inspector Williams This time,

[22:21] uh, many people are

[22:24] are aware or under a false

[22:25] impression that because you

[22:25] can't see water from your

[22:29] back door, that they do not live

[22:29] in a waterfront community when

[22:30] in fact,

[22:33] as I say, every community on

[22:34] Long Island is a waterfront

[22:34] community. When

[22:38] hurricanes and major storms come

[22:38] through Long Island. Every

[22:39] community has

[22:43] to be prepared. The impact of

[22:43] tides and wind can wreak havoc

[22:43] on our area.

[22:47] To share Huntington's plans for

[22:47] storms from the maritime

[22:48] perspective and

[22:54] to help homeowners and boat

[22:55] owners prepare. I'd like to

[22:55] welcome our director

[22:59] of Maritime Services, Fred

[22:59] Yvina. Thank you very much, uh,

[22:59] couple things

[23:03] again, Huntington, we have 60

[23:04] miles of shore front and one of

[23:07] the biggest two areas when we

[23:08] start to prepare and we're

[23:12] ready to go because we've done

[23:12] it for years, is we worry

[23:16] two areas, eat and snack and

[23:17] Lloyd neck to let everybody know

[23:21] we are ready to go, uh, in

[23:21] conjunction with the fire

[23:22] departments

[23:26] and the town highway department

[23:26] if there is

[23:30] flooding, the volunteer fire

[23:30] departments do have high

[23:33] water rescue trucks, if we have

[23:34] to get people off, but if there

[23:34] is a breach

[23:38] in the roadway, if polls come

[23:38] down, wires, and it's

[23:41] impassable, our boats are ready

[23:41] to go. We

[23:45] will convert, we will meet at

[23:45] Hobart Beach and

[23:48] we'll be at Fiddler's Green Dock

[23:48] if we need

[23:51] to be, if there's a medical

[23:52] emergency, you gotta eat

[23:55] and snack far par and down in

[23:56] Lloyd Neck we'll always

[23:59] have Huntington Fire Department,

[23:59] Huntington Community Ambulance

[23:59] there. If

[24:03] we have to for a medical

[24:04] emergency to evacuate somebody

[24:04] we will do it with

[24:08] our boats. Also, if we have to

[24:08] bring supplies. In saying that

[24:12] next would be for our mariners

[24:12] that I know all

[24:15] their vessels are their pride

[24:15] and joy.

[24:18] But you have to understand, in

[24:18] times like this

[24:22] you can't replace your life. You

[24:22] can replace your boat.

[24:26] So again, very, very to help

[24:26] yourselves out, to

[24:29] keep your boats, to make sure

[24:29] you double up on

[24:33] your pennant lines, um, make

[24:33] sure you remove your

[24:36] anchors off the bow of the boats

[24:37] because when you double up

[24:40] on pennant lines or even your

[24:41] pennant lines, they'll chafe on

[24:44] the anchor itself, and then the

[24:44] boat takes off like a sail

[24:48] Sailboaters, please remove your

[24:48] sales. You have plenty

[24:51] of days before a hurricane

[24:52] should hit or tropical storm

[24:55] or storm-like Sandy. So you do

[24:56] have time if you can remove your

[24:56] boat out

[25:00] of the water, that's the best

[25:00] way to do it, but if you can't

[25:04] for boats that are um a little

[25:04] smaller

[25:07] on moorings they call it what

[25:08] they call scoop and

[25:11] bail as the waves come, the boat

[25:12] goes up, it goes down, and it

[25:15] lifts water up and it fills

[25:15] their boats with water. Make

[25:16] sure all you're through

[25:20] hole fittings are clean what

[25:21] they call scuppers or the holes

[25:25] that allow water to come out of

[25:25] the transoms of the boat. Um

[25:29] batten down your hatches. Batten

[25:29] down all your

[25:32] companionways, remove anything

[25:33] on top of the decks

[25:36] such as people at paddle boats,

[25:36] paddle boards now

[25:39] small kayaks or anything you

[25:40] like to put out there.

[25:43] Everything could become

[25:43] projectile.

[25:46] Please again safety first

[25:48] marinas. If you have a boat in a

[25:48] marina, go

[25:52] down, double up your lines.

[25:52] Always

[25:55] strength is better. But again

[25:58] do not, do not go down and check

[25:59] on your

[26:01] boat until you get an all-clear

[26:02] from Suffolk County

[26:05] Police from highway from the

[26:06] supervis office

[26:08] Our supervisor and their staff

[26:09] will be right on top of it

[26:12] Please don't leave your house as

[26:12] you just heard all

[26:16] the things that can happen to

[26:17] you. Please be safe and

[26:20] again we're on call, we'll be

[26:20] there to protect the waterfront.

[26:21] Thank you.

[26:28] Well

[26:31] as a pet owner, I know firsthand

[26:34] how important it is. And how

[26:35] important is

[26:37] to take care of our animals and

[26:38] when the forecast calls

[26:41] for an emergency uh, we need to

[26:41] remember that there are

[26:46] steps that we need to take for

[26:46] our four-legged friends. For

[26:50] a quick set of tips, I welcome

[26:51] Mike Costa, supervisor

[26:57] of the town's animal shelter.

[27:00] Hi everyone What we're going to

[27:00] talk about right now is. What

[27:04] we do for storm prep as far as

[27:04] our animals

[27:07] are concerned, and really this

[27:07] is mostly common sense. Our

[27:10] pets are parts of our families

[27:10] and

[27:13] so very simply, when we make a

[27:13] plan for. Whether

[27:17] we're gonna shelter in place or

[27:18] need to evacuate. We include our

[27:18] pets in

[27:22] that plan. Whether you are able

[27:22] to take your animals with you or

[27:22] not

[27:26] will depend on your specific

[27:27] circumstances, but having a plan

[27:27] in

[27:31] place beforehand is essential

[27:32] Some of the things that are

[27:32] really vital

[27:36] will include some of very, very

[27:36] obvious things to you. But

[27:40] you'd be surprised on how many

[27:40] pets we encounter every single

[27:40] day

[27:44] They don't meet these very

[27:45] simple very, very simple and

[27:45] protective steps

[27:49] like having collars with clear

[27:49] and

[27:51] legible identification on it.

[27:52] Having animals that we

[27:56] can quickly decipher who owns

[27:56] helps the

[28:00] redemption process, and if

[28:00] you're in a situation uh where

[28:00] we are

[28:05] experiencing some type of storm

[28:05] or natural disaster. Uh, we want

[28:05] to identify

[28:09] who owns what pet as quickly as

[28:10] possible, and I'm sure you're

[28:10] interested

[28:14] in making sure your pet is safe,

[28:14] and so having clear

[28:15] identification is vital

[28:18] One step that we have available

[28:19] to us as microchipping.

[28:22] Microchipping is a very simple

[28:23] process where the implant a

[28:27] very simple chip into the dog's

[28:28] subcutaneous skin.

[28:31] And all your information is

[28:32] there. We can scan that and

[28:32] instantly know who owns

[28:37] this dog. Again, talking about

[28:37] what we need to do, have

[28:40] a plan. It's all preparedness.

[28:41] You might not be aware, but in

[28:41] New York

[28:45] State we're required to have

[28:46] rabies vaccines for our dogs. If

[28:46] animal controls

[28:50] you pick up your dog part of the

[28:50] step for the redemption process

[28:50] is to ensure

[28:54] that you have a rabies vaccine

[28:55] before you can be reunited with

[28:55] that pet

[28:59] If we're in a situation where

[28:59] resources are scarce having the

[29:00] availability

[29:03] to get that vaccine MAY slow

[29:04] down the process of you being

[29:04] reunited with

[29:08] your pets. Some other things to

[29:09] consider Have a recent photo of

[29:09] your pets

[29:13] on your phone, I know if you're

[29:13] like me, you've probably got 100

[29:14] of them,

[29:17] but make sure you have something

[29:18] that you can pull up quickly and

[29:18] offer

[29:21] to public safety agent or uh

[29:22] animal control personnel to say,

[29:22] hey, this

[29:26] is my dog, that's gonna be

[29:26] really helpful. If you are

[29:26] leaving your pets

[29:30] behind because you need to. Have

[29:30] a a pet alert placard somewhere

[29:30] that's

[29:34] visible on the front of your

[29:35] house. Now you can get these,

[29:35] you can make

[29:39] it on a piece of paper and it

[29:40] just says I've got two cats, 1

[29:40] dog. You can

[29:43] buy them, uh, you can download

[29:44] them, but just something that's

[29:44] in an obvious

[29:48] location for first responders so

[29:49] that we know that there are

[29:49] animals in

[29:52] the home and so that that could

[29:53] be monitored. Also, you're gonna

[29:53] want to

[29:57] leave some resources behind for

[29:57] your animals, so consider

[29:57] several days'

[30:02] Make sure that your to go plan

[30:02] includes a bag of necessities

[30:02] for not only

[30:06] yourself but for your pet too,

[30:06] we'll include medications and,

[30:07] Food and

[30:11] water and leashes. And if you

[30:11] have any further questions, you

[30:12] can always

[30:15] go on the town of Huntington

[30:15] website and go to animalservices

[30:16] and speak

[30:26] to shelter personnel we're more

[30:27] than happy to walk you through

[30:27] additional

[30:31] steps. Thank you. So on top of

[30:32] everything that you've heard,

[30:32] there are a

[30:36] few more things I just want to

[30:36] point out that residents should

[30:36] be aware

[30:40] of. Uh, one of those is safe is

[30:41] a safe center or shelter where

[30:41] residents

[30:44] can go should they need to

[30:45] evacuate. Our Flanagan Senior

[30:45] Center is fully

[30:49] generated, it has a large

[30:49] working kitchen, ample space to

[30:50] shelter people

[30:53] in the event of an evacuation

[30:54] from our shorelines Other

[30:54] emergency shelters

[30:58] ailable avroughout

[30:58] Suffolk County. Also, the town

[30:58] has learned

[31:02] to rely on the critical support

[31:03] of the food pantries on Long

[31:03] Island. We

[31:07] never know when that need MAY

[31:08] arise. Our friends from Island

[31:08] Harvest are

[31:11] here with us today to help

[31:12] remind us that their services

[31:12] are always available,

[31:16] especially in times of

[31:16] emergency. The town of

[31:17] Huntington is also initiating

[31:21] a new emergency notification

[31:21] system, Smart 911 through Rave

[31:22] Smart 911 will

[31:25] allow residents to determine how

[31:26] they want to be notified and

[31:26] under what

[31:29] circumstances. When it comes to

[31:30] issuing issues beyond our

[31:30] control, I would

[31:34] hope that the residents would

[31:34] want to be notified. On all

[31:34] issues You can

[31:38] sign up online or through a qr

[31:39] code or available link. You'll

[31:39] also find

[31:43] the sign up on the town's social

[31:43] media websites. Another tip I

[31:43] got from

[31:47] John Clark our director of

[31:48] Environmental Waste Management

[31:48] is drain your

[31:52] pool slightly so that when heavy

[31:52] rains are forecasted, pools will

[31:52] not overflow

[31:56] and flood the surrounding

[31:57] property. Of course there are

[31:57] standard reminders

[32:01] when a storm is forecasted, as

[32:01] we've heard already, please have

[32:01] a family

[32:05] kit ready to go. Have some cash

[32:06] on hand, have fresh water for

[32:06] every member

[32:10] of your family and your pets for

[32:10] 7 days. Fill your cars with gas

[32:10] Use battery

[32:14] operated candles instead of real

[32:15] flames for safety, if you do use

[32:15] real candles,

[32:19] never leave them unattended, and

[32:19] you'll find more tips in the

[32:19] town's emergency

[32:24] preparedness guide Once again we

[32:25] urge the public to access one

[32:25] here at town hall

[32:28] or on most emergency government

[32:29] websites will have a similar

[32:29] guide that

[32:33] you should take a look at, and I

[32:33] think the big takeaway is from

[32:33] today's.

[32:37] Press conferences, please be, be

[32:37] prepared, have a plan. Take a

[32:37] look at

[32:41] a guide, this one or one

[32:42] similar, tailor it to you and

[32:42] your family's needs. During

[32:46] an emergency, please shelter in

[32:47] place. Please, as we've heard

[32:47] several times,

[32:50] stay off the roads because it's

[32:51] not just in uh winter weather.

[32:51] We need to

[32:55] plow, but also in warm weather

[32:55] there will be likely heavy

[32:56] equipment passing

[32:59] through your neighborhood. So

[33:00] please, if you can, and it's

[33:00] available, please

[33:04] get all of your cars off the

[33:04] roadway and don't travel unless

[33:05] it's absolute

[33:08] necessary. And lastly, don't be

[33:09] complacent about an oncoming

[33:09] storm, as we've

[33:13] heard from the National Weather

[33:13] Service, we haven't had a

[33:13] hurricane hit

[33:17] Long Island and yet we've had

[33:18] several storms that were

[33:18] devastating to our

[33:22] area. They were, they were not

[33:22] hurricanes. They were wind

[33:22] storms or tropical

The Town of Huntington’s Emergency Preparedness Press Conference

Agenda

Transcript