Rockville Centre has a near miss with Earl

Hurricane Earl posed a potential threat to Long Island last week, and the Village of Rockville Centre rapidly prepared for a Labor Day weekend cleanup in the storm’s aftermath. As Earl brushed eastern Long Island, two newly rented generators were on hand to power up Village Hall and the Recreation Center if necessary, and electric crews from upstate New York were on standby in case of the emergency that never occurred. The village also reserved rooms at the Best Western Hotel in case those crews needed local housing for a prolonged stay in the village.

“We were ready for anything,” said Mayor Mary Bossart. “Our goal was to try to hold everything together and remain focused on the possibility of a terrible storm.”

To prepare for a food shortage that could have occurred in the worst possible scenario, the village purchased Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) and continued to update and increase the capacity of its reverse 911-call system (Swift 911) for Rockville Centre phone numbers, including residents’ mobile phones, with the addition of a newly installed extra phone line.

By Thursday evening, the storm was no longer a threat to village residents. As its eye tracked a few hundred miles east of Montauk, and the village saw only a few drops of rain and virtually no wind from it, the generators became merely precautionary.

"The lessons learned from the March nor'easter made clear that the public needs to understand the extent and limits of government responsibility in a crisis," said Building Department Superintendent Daniel Casella. "Most of all, the public needs to appreciate that emergency preparedness is a shared responsibility."

In the September issue of "This Month in Rockville Centre," and in a brief interview with the Herald last week, Mayor Mary Bossart urged residents to prepare for the worst, stockpiling extra water, batteries and non-perishable food, in addition to keeping their cars' gas tanks filled, getting extra cash from the bank and keeping cell phones charged. She said detailed information on preparing a family emergency plan, packing an emergency "go kit" and the location of emergency shelters and evacuation routes is available on the village's website.