After Irene: Port Jeff Emergency Operation Center Was Up All Night

While village residents kept vigil at home riding out Hurricane Irene, village workers and vilunteers were at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located in the Port Jefferson Volunteer Ambulance headquarters fielding calls and responding to emergencies throughout the storm.

On Saturday Aug. 27, the day before the storm hit, Mayor Margot Garant called together representatives from the village and local emergency services to put together a response plan for the impending Hurricane. That plan included closing off the downtown streets in expectation of severe flooding and the formation of a center of operations staffed by members of the village board of trustees, code enforcement, the fire department and the ambulance corps.

Because of its distance from any potential flooding, the fact that it had a generator and the facilities could accommodate the emergency staff, the Port Jefferson Ambulance Corps on Crystal Brook Hollow Road and Hallock Avenue served as the EOC headquarters.

"They had a great set up," said village clerk, Bob Juliano. "They had tables, computers and telephones. Naturally we brought our own radios and cell phones."

Designated phone takers fielded calls to the appropriate departments who then prioritized them as they saw fit. They also used laptops to track the hurricane’s progress.

By 9 p.m. Saturday night, the EOC was official set to go and when the hurricane hit early the next morning, they started fielding calls. It was the first time the village ever attempted to organize a response of this magnitude.

"The overall consensus is that everything went well," said Port Jefferson Ambulance Corps Chief, Jason Lazerus.

Dave Williams, second assistant chief of the Port Jefferson Fire Department, agreed.

"I can’t tell you how well it worked for a first time in that location. They (Port Jefferson Ambulance Corps) did an absolutely phenomenal job for a first time at that location," he said. "They had Internet, laptops, live TV, weather updates and every call was posted on an electronic board."

Juliano also credited the Ambulance Corps for accommodating everyone.

"It was very hospitable," he said. "They tried to make it as comfortable as they could."

There was one important element, essential to an overnight operation, that wasn’t overlooked.

"They had fresh coffee," Juliano said.

In all, the center logged in 60 actual calls from residents for different storm related events, ranging from fires to downed trees and wires.

Williams said that during one call that they took during the storm, a tree fell on a house in the village. When they inspected it they found the house to be unstable.

"We had many calls of trees down, wires, electrical service pulled from one house with a possible threat of fire," he said. "We suggested they leave the premises and turn off the electric."

He said they were assisting village code to prevent people from going through the flood waters.

"Our fear was of people falling into open manhole covers or being swept away," he said.

Otherwise they had to respond to automatic alarms at facilities going off that he said was "normal during electrical storms."

"Highway was busiest of all the people in the EOC," he said.

Port Jefferson village highway department had to contend with all the downed trees and clearing of the roads from debris.

This month, all the departments involved planned to get together to sit down, discuss the response and talk about what worked and what needs to be improved.

"There’s always room for improvement," he said.

Juliano said it was important that they kept careful records of the calls that came in and continued to track the clean up in order for the village to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As for the total cost, they haven’t calculated that yet.

"Way too premature to put a price tag on it," said Juliano.

The staff of volunteers and village employees worked through the night to ensure the operations went smoothly.

"I’d like to thank our people and all the other players in this who volunteered their time away from their families for this disaster," said Williams. "The coordination was phenomenal. I hope public is reasonably happy."