Shelter Island Reporter

This photo ran on the front page of the August 22, 1991 Reporter with the headline: “BOB BATTERS ISLAND!” The Town Board reviewed emergency management plans this week as another big hurricane is considered long overdue.

Last Wednesday's microburst, as bad as it was on Tarkettle and Midway roads, is nothing compared to a full-blown hurricane. Town Supervisor Jim Dougherty is hoping for a hurricane-free season, but “we are long overdue and experts are predicting some tough weather,” he said. 


The Island has not been hit by a hurricane since Bob, which came ashore in 1991. With local creek water temperatures at 86 degrees, something Councilman Peter Reich said he'd never seen before, conditions are ripe for a big storm.


On Tuesday, Town Board members reviewed the Island's emergency management plan with Police Chief Jim Read. A recap of the plan, which is continually being improved, the chief said, is being sent to all town departments and community groups with roles during an emergency. Those roles were summarized by Chief Read, the town's emergency management coordinator, as follows:


Police Department


The Shelter Island Police Department, located at North Ferry Road and Thomas Street, will serve as emergency operations center. The building has a back-up generator (which is tested weekly and serviced quarterly) and will “become a kind of hub for operations,” Chief Read said.


Red Cross


The Shelter Island Chapter of the American Red Cross will serve dual roles as shelter coordinator and the Island's emergency medical response team. “We don't want to open a shelter unless we really, really have to,” Chief Read said, preferring to shelter people in place, with neighbors helping neighbors. But if a shelter is needed, the school and the Senior Activity Center would be utilized, with the Presbyterian Church and American Legion Hall as backup. The Red Cross also has a mobile trailer equipped with emergency supplies if needed. Island Urgent Medical Care has also committed to keeping a doctor on the Island during a hurricane, Supervisor Dougherty noted.


Fire Department


The Shelter Island Fire Department will coordinate evacuations, primarily in low-lying near shore neighborhoods. Residents will be notified if their neighborhood is being evacuated but should otherwise remain at home, help their neighbors and not assume a shelter is being set up if a storm is coming. Summer residents tend to leave the Island before a major storm, Chief Read said, and “the winter population is grounded in the ability to weather storms.”


The Office of Senior Services


Town senior services personnel maintain a list of elderly residents who are frail or have special medical needs, like the use of an oxygen tank. Seniors would be called prior to a hurricane and those who cannot safely stay at home or who lack assistance from family and friends may be sheltered at the Senior Activity Center in the basement of the town Medical Center.


Highway Department


As they did last week, the Highway Department would clear storm debris and downed trees, opening main thoroughfares first.


Transportation, other roles


The ferry companies will keep emergency managers posted on their operations during a hurricane. Islanders should be prepared for the ferries shutting down for several hours during the worst part of a hurricane, Councilman Glenn Waddington said. The Recreation Department would close beaches and put the town bus into service for evacuations. The Building Department and Town Assessors would document and assess damage and losses immediately after a storm. 


Utilities, communications


LIPA will have a service crew on the Island, as they have in most storms over the past year and a half, Chief Read said. But Islanders need to be prepared to go 72 hours or longer without power. That means some new technologies people have become accustomed to or even dependent on will not be available. The police will utilize HAM radios (“if there was a real communication failure, one of the last things standing are those radios,” the chief said) and satellite phones. Emergency information will be broadcast on WLNG and a town emergency phone line will be in operation at 749-0400 (press 9 and then 1 for emergency updates; this number defaults to the supervisor's office during normal business hours). However, both land lines and cell phone towers may be knocked out during a hurricane, Chief Read warned.


“These [recent] storms have been easy. We need to be self-sufficient for a week or longer,” Supervisor Dougherty said.


More information on preparing for a hurricane is available on the town's Cablevision Channel 22, at websites hosted by FEMA (fema.gov/hazard/hurricane) and the Red Cross (redcross.org) and in a Shelter Island Hurricane Preparation Guide available at Town Hall.