By Nick Buglione
In a press conference last Thursday, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi urged residents to prepare for the possibility of a hurricane hitting Long Island, while highlighting county evacuation plans and routes.
Hurricane Katrina not only left Gulf Coast cities in ruins and New Orleans deluged, but it underscored how ill-prepared local, state and federal officials were in responding to a storm of that magnitude.
"The last two weeks have been a tragic eye-opener to the possible wrath of Mother Nature," Suozzi said. "Though a storm mirroring the strength of Hurricane Katrina is unlikely to hit Long Island, a smaller hurricane could cause a significant amount of damage. That's why we want all of our citizens to be prepared."
Suozzi said that if the South Shore ever needs to be evacuated, Long Island buses and Long Island Rail Road trains would run extra routes to provide transportation for those without other means of escape. They would be taken to the Mitchel Field complex in Uniondale, which would serve as the coordination point for evacuations. Though police would be responsible for overseeing all evacuations, the county would count on residents to pitch in. "We encourage neighbors to look after each other, especially senior citizens and the homebound," said Terence Winters, director of planning for the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management in East Meadow.
Richard Bivone, an East Meadow civic leader and president of the Nassau County Council of Chambers of Commerce, said it is overly optimistic to think the county would ever be able to pull off such an evacuation. "We are an island unto ourselves," Bivone said. "We need to be proactive and think about a plan and have it ready and have all people on board. If we have a Category Five hurricane, it would be a disaster. The human loss would be high."
Since the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami that ravaged south Asia, Bivone has ardently lobbied elected officials to consider the issues that would arise on Long Island if such a disaster were to strike -- particularly the coordination of a mass evacuation.
Nassau County is home to some 1.3 million people, and another 1.5 million live in neighboring Suffolk County. Factor in the approximately 5 million people in Queens and Brooklyn, and the notion of a swift, orderly evacuation of Long Island seems impossible, Bivone said.
Still, his letter-writing campaign has received little response from county, state or federal officials, he said. In an interview in February, Richard Rotanz, commissioner of the county Office of Emergency Management, said, "An evacuation is a near impossibility."
Though the county is working on it, examining evacuation alternatives, including airlifting people off the island, a viable plan is still several years away, Rotanz said. He noted, however, that the county has done a number of things to improve its emergency preparedness in the last two years, including creating the Office of Emergency Management.
Nassau and Suffolk counties have also begun working together, and are considering creating one emergency-management body to cover both regions, the commissioner said.
Rotanz previously worked for the Office of Emergency Management in New York City, where there is one fire department and one unified school district. In Nassau County, where there are some 71 fire departments and 45 school districts, coming up with a plan to shelter and feed victims, administer health care and ensure the continuity of government is a daunting tasking, he said.
"The most important level of preparation in the face of a hurricane is household preparedness," Rotanz said at last Thursday's press conference. Residents should have a plan of action, he said, including a communication system, a disaster supply kid, and an alternative meeting place if their home is threatened. "Make sure you have food, water, cash, flashlights and a radio," Rotanz said. "Monitor the weather stations, and listen to any government warnings."
Bivone wants the county to start holding meetings with emergency officials, agency heads and civic leaders in all communities to come up with a comprehensive emergency plan. Then they need to disseminate that plan to the public, he said. "Our elected officials have to understand that there has to be a plan," Bivone said. "We need to educate the people before it's too late."
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
