Politics & Government

Village Meets to Plan Response to Hurricane Sandy

Major players in Port Jefferson hammer out emergency response plan on Saturday morning.

In Port Jefferson, heads of emergency services and village government came together in Village Hall on Saturday morning to hammer out the response plan for Hurricane Sandy, expect to hit the area on Monday night.

Port Jefferson Ambulance Company’s Headquarters on Crystal Brook Hollow Road was designated to be the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) because of it's location on high ground outside of the village. Starting at 3 p.m. on Monday, all emergency management agencies will be staffed at the EOC to field calls and dispatch manpower as needed during the storm.

Most agencies expect to have 24-hour coverage going throughout the storm including code enforcement and the highway department to help clear trees and assist residents in non-emergency situations.

Find out what's happening in Port Jeffersonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Code officers will start to advise businesses to close up on Monday afternoon and if necessary, a mandatory evacuation from downtown could be enforced if the storn surge poses a danger, flooding the village.

With the storm hitting during a full moon and very close to high tide on Tuesday at about 12:01 a.m., the potential for flooding is great, according to officials.

Find out what's happening in Port Jeffersonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If flooding occurs the primary roads closed will be Main Street (Route 112) from East Main Street north to Broadway (25A). East Broadway will be closed at East Main Street up to West Broadway at Barnum Avenue. Access to Main Street will also be closed off at Mill Creek Road.

If the flooding increases, the plan is to push the closings back further cutting Main Street off at Barnum Avenue (near the CVS). Barnum Avenue will be closed at Caroline Avenue (near the ball fields). Broadway will be closed off at High Street to the east and California Avenue (near the Brookhaven Town boat ramp) to the west. Access to East Main Street will be cut off from Thompson St. (by the library) and Prospect Street (near Mather Museum.)

Road closures could occur as early as 10 p.m. on Monday night.

A Port Jefferson fire department representative said that its trucks will be at the firehouse as long as possible but could be dispersed to designated locations around the village to better respond to emergencies.

In case of an emergency village residents are encouraged to call 911 first. Starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, for all non-emergency calls residents from the villages of Port Jefferson and Belle Terre can call (631) 403-6111 and they will be routed to the appropriate department in the village.


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