Politics & Government

County to Review Weather Readiness Plans

Severe weather over last six months prompts update of emergency procedures.

County Executive Steve Levy said he will convene an internal panel of department heads to update the county's emergency preparedness plans following a winter/early spring season that included a blizzard, a hurricane-like nor'easter and record rainfall which produced flooding, according to a statement sent by his office Wednesday afternoon.

"Our emergency preparedness systems were certainly put to the test over the last six months," said Levy in the statement. "These real-life events reminded us to 'expect the unexpected' in these situations."

Levy ordered the review to be completed in advance of the 2010 hurricane season, and said Chief Deputy County Executive Ed Dumas will oversee the process which will include Police, Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, Public Works, Parks, Health and Social Services.

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This comes after FEMA spent a week assessing the damage of certain areas of Long Island recently.

Levy said the weather events of the past season presented a number of new scenarios that needs the county's attention, including:

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  • the process for closing health and social service centers or suspending public transportation;
  • the ability to step-up response in real-time if severe weather dramatically exceeds what was forecast;
  • the ability to manage historically high volumes of calls into 911 center, including overflow from other jurisdictions;
  • the ability of the infrastructure to handle receding floodwaters;
  • the role of public works to help remove floodwaters from public and private properties.


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