The Town of Southampton has released its 2011 Hurricane Survival Guide and copies are now available online, for pickup and through the mail.
This year’s guide has been updated and contains the most up-to-date emergency information, including important telephone numbers, checklists, safety tips and other valuable information on how to help residents prepare for a hurricane and its aftermath. The guide features special sections for senior citizens, pet owners and those with special needs. Also, this year marks the first time that the guide offers a list of websites in Spanish.
“Experts tell us that we are in an active hurricane cycle and that it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” said Town Councilwoman Nancy Graboski in a prepared statement released on Friday. She added that, in the event of a hurricane, “there is no way that government can take care of everybody. Rather, we need our residents and visitors to share in this responsibility, so that we can best protect ourselves, our families and our property. It is up to each of us to see that our homes are secure and that relocation plans are made well in advance.”
Ms. Graboski, who led the effort to revise the guide, is the Town Board liaison to the Southampton Town Office of Emergency Management.
Town Police Lieutenant Robert Iberger, the head of the Office of Emergency Management, stated, “Evacuation for Southampton Town residents generally means relocation to higher ground, to a sound structure out of the projected surge inundation areas. Mobile home residents must also evacuate their residences until after the storm has passed.”
Officials stressed that if residents must relocate, it is especially important for them to plan ahead and make arrangements before a hurricane makes landfall. Residents who do not live in a flood zone or in a mobile or manufactured home should remain in their residences until a storm has passed, according to authorities.
The American Red Cross could also open a limited number of emergency shelters, depending on the severity of a hurricane, Lt. Iberger said. Town officials, however, urged residents to rely on the shelters as a last resort. Lt. Iberger added that most American Red Cross shelters do not allow pets.
At Friday’s Town Board work session, David Wally, a senior forecaster and tropical program leader for the National Weather Service, noted that the 2011 hurricane season will be an “above normal” one, with the peak expected in late August and into September, when warmer water off the African coast will combine with other factors to create the storms that could affect the East Coast of the United States. He said some 12 to 18 named storms are expected, with six to 10 becoming hurricanes, and three to six of them are expected to be intense storms.
But there is no way to predict how many will hit land, he added. Last year was an “extremely active” hurricane season—19 named storms, a dozen hurricanes and five major storms—but, in 2010, not a single storm made landfall. “It just takes that one storm, obviously ... to have that devastating impact on the area,” he said.
Mr. Wally, who has 18 years of experience with the National Weather Service, noted that the region is “well past the frequency periods” for a Category 1, 2 or 3 storm, the most severe types of storms likely to hit the East End. The 1938 hurricane, which caused widespread damage and death, was a Category 3 storm. No hurricane has struck the region since 1985. Likewise, Lt. Iberger emphasized on Friday that the region is “way, way overdue” for a severe storm.
Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst pointed out that preparations for a storm must go beyond planning for a 24-hour period. “It’s not just about riding out a storm for a few hours or a day,” she said, since a severe storm could knock out power, communications and other utilities for days or even weeks.
The town’s 2011 Hurricane Survival Guide is available online at www.southamptontownny.gov, under the “Emergency Preparedness” link. Hard copies can be picked up at Southampton Town Hall or at one of the town’s community centers, including those in Hampton Bays, Flanders, Westhampton and Bridgehampton. To request a copy by mail, call (631) 287-5745.
For further information, contact Town Councilwoman Nancy Graboski at (631) 287-5745 or the town’s Office of Emergency Management at (631) 728-3400.
on Jul 29, 2011