[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