Long Island and New York City are already under a mandatory evacuation for low-lying areas.
Much of the South Shore of Long Island was under mandatory evacuation by Sunday afternoon, with bridges shut down except for those leaving the area; by early evening, portions of the North Shore, including parts of Kings Point in Great Neck, were also being evacuated.
In a reverse 9-11 call, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano instructed residents that the mandatory evacuation would be underway beginning 2 pm on Sunday. Residents "should relocate to family and friends outside the zone."
NICE (the Long Island bus service) and MTA would shut down service by 7 pm on Sunday.
By 1 pm, shelters would be open at Nassau Community College, Levitt HS, Locust valley High School, and SUNY Old Westbury. By 4 pm, a special needs shelter would be open at Nassau Community College; a pet shelter will be open at Mitchell Field.
For a list and map of Nassau County storm surge evacuation routes, visit the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management website at http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/OEM/hurricane/routes.html
For a longer list of recommended steps for before, during and after a major storm event, visit www.ready.gov/hurricanes.
For the latest storm updates from the National Hurricane Center, visit http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/.
Plans to suspend public transportation If a decision to suspend service is made by Sunday, New York City subways and buses would begin an orderly suspension of service at 7 p.m. Sunday. Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road would suspend service at 7 p.m. Sunday. Some lines may be curtailed over a period of several hours before all service is suspended, but no one would be able to rely on any MTA service after 7 p.m. Sunday.
All customers leaving the Sunday afternoon Jets game in New Jersey would be accommodated before service is suspended. However, the special through train from New Haven to the Meadowlands has been cancelled.
“I have directed the MTA to put its Hurricane Plan into action to help New Yorkers prepare for the storm and protect the vital assets of the region’s transportation system,” Governor Cuomo said. “New Yorkers need to take action now to protect themselves, and as the transportation system prepares to possibly suspend service, no one should wait until the last minute to prepare.”
The MTA Hurricane Plan is designed to secure equipment and protect employees before dangerous sustained winds of 39 mph or higher and storm surges of 4 to 8 feet reach the area. This process must begin hours in advance of the storm’s arrival, as thousands of rail cars, subway cars and buses must be pulled from service and stored safely.
“Suspending the largest transportation system in North America is a monumental effort, and it is imperative that we start the process before we make a final decision, and before the worst of Hurricane Sandy reaches us,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota. “That means all of our 8.5 million daily customers need to prepare for the storm and be ready to complete their travels by 7 p.m. Sunday.”
Before any final decision on suspending service, MTA crews will follow the Hurricane Plan by moving rail cars, locomotives, subway cars and buses from low-lying yards to higher ground; preparing recovery equipment and clearing drainage areas; and deploying sandbags and other protective materials at tunnel entrances, station entrances and other locations vulnerable to flooding. Taking these pre-emptive measures before the full brunt of the storm arrives will help in the MTA’s recovery efforts after the storm passes.MTA subway and railroad stations are not designated shelters and would be closed in the event of a service suspension. Those in need of assistance would be directed to designated shelters nearby.
Service would be restored following the storm only when it is safe to do so, after careful inspections of all equipment and tracks. There is no timetable established for restoration. Customers and the media should monitor the mta.info website or call 511 for the most current service information.
Details of each agency’s suspension plans are provided below.
New York City Transit
New York City subway and bus service will be suspended by early Monday morning to allow crews to secure stations, tracks and tunnels before the onset of sustained winds of 39 mph or higher.
On the subway system, where the orderly suspension of service takes eight hours, service would begin to be curtailed after 7 p.m. Sunday. While some trains may continue to run for several additional hours, there would be no guarantee of any subway service after that time, so all customers who rely on the subway would have to plan to complete their travel by 7 p.m. Sunday.
The bus system requires six hours for the orderly suspension of service, so buses would be able to remain on their normal routes for as much as two hours after 7 p.m. Sunday. There would be no guarantee of any bus service after that time.
The MTA would run normal service until those times, with sufficient capacity to allow customers to leave vulnerable areas and reach safe destinations before service is suspended. Those who use the MTA to evacuate would be allowed to carry pets. Dogs must be leashed and, if possible, muzzled. Cats should be in carriers.
Subway stations in flood-prone locations such as lower Manhattan would be evacuated and secured. Critical track-level components would be removed from tunnels under rivers so they will not suffer the corrosive effects of salt water if they are flooded. Workers would secure all elevated stations to protect against damaging winds.
There would be no Access-A-Ride trips scheduled after 12 p.m. Sunday. Customers will be able to schedule trips until then.
Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad will run its final trains at 7 p.m. Sunday to prepare for the arrival of high winds and heavy rain. Customers are urged not to wait for the last trains when making their travel plans.
Grand Central Terminal, including its shops and restaurants, and all outlying Metro-North station buildings would be closed for the duration of the service suspension. In preparation, train equipment is being moved out of low-lying locations known to be prone to flooding, such as the Highbridge and Mott Haven yards in the Bronx.
As the storm approaches, Metro-North has secured its infrastructure by moving trucks and equipment such as backhoes, cranes and bulldozers, to higher ground.
Parking lots that usually flood, such as the ones at White Plains and Beacon, would be barricaded. Connecting ferry service at Beacon and Ossining would be suspended. The Hudson RailLink that serves Spuyten Duyvil and Riverdale would be suspended.
Metro-North has asked many employees to shelter during the storm at a Metro-North facility, so they will be immediately available to begin recovery efforts when the worst of the storm has passed.
Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road will run its final trains at 7 p.m. Sunday. Service would be suspended earlier on some outlying parts of the system because crews would be required to secure or remove 690 gates at 295 railroad crossings across Long Island to prevent them from being damaged by wind. Customers are urged not to wait for the last trains when making their travel plans.
This process takes approximately 12 hours and must be completed prior to forecasted sustained winds of 39 mph or higher. Crews would begin by removing gates east of Ronkonkoma on the Main Line to Greenport, where weekend service does not operate at this time of year. Additionally, crossing gates would start being removed on the Montauk Branch east of Speonk beginning Sunday morning, so train service would be replaced with buses from 9 a.m. Sunday until the full service suspension takes effect at 7 p.m.
Long Island residents, pedestrians and drivers need to be aware that the third rail remains electrified even during a service suspension and equipment trains may be operating. Please act in a safe manner in and around tracks.
In order to restore service, train equipment and crews must be repositioned, all crossing gates re-installed and fully tested and power to the crossing gates restored. In addition, any debris, such as fallen trees, must be removed from tracks and the right of way inspected.
Preparations by State Department of Health
Based upon the latest weather models, the greatest risk to the New York City metropolitan area and the entire state, due to rain and strong winds, will be prolonged power outages. These prolonged outages may last at least 48-72 hours beginning as early as Sunday evening. This could also lead to flooding, which is a chief concern.
Statewide, the Department of Health has released general guidance for all health care facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes, and adult care facilities, to be prepared for a prolonged power outage and to check generators, fuel levels, food and water levels, etc. Health care facilities should focus on planning for patients who are dependent upon electrical equipment such as ventilators, dialysis patients, oxygen concentrators, etc. Dialysis facilities statewide should consider staying open on Sunday and dialyzing as many patients due for dialysis Monday through Wednesday as possible. Facilities should report power outages to their local county/NYC Emergency Operations Center and to DOH. Facilities needing assistance due to prolonged power outages should make requests through their local EOC who will then request state assistance if needed.
In the New York City metropolitan area, with the MTA closure possibly planned for 7 PM Sunday, DOH has required all adult homes and nursing homes to bring staffing levels to 150% of standard shifts by 5 PM Sunday. Staff should be prepared to stay for 48-72 hours. The State Human Services Task Force is responding to a request for 700 volunteers for pre-landfall deployment and 2,500 for post-landfall deployment to staff shelters.
DOH has designated a “Slosh Zone” which includes Zone A, the Rockaways, northeast Queens and eastern shore of the Bronx. All nursing homes in these areas are required to move ventilator dependent patients to facilities outside of the Slosh Zone by 5 PM Sunday. Ambulances are currently at home stations awaiting directives to support the movement of vent patients.
DOH is in regular contact with hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities in Slosh Zones, county health commissioners and local health directors statewide. DOH staff is also deployed in the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Healthcare Facility Evacuation Coordination Center (HEC).
Governor Cuomo also directed the New York Army and Air National Guard to mobilize in response to Hurricane Sandy, and as a result, the Guard will deploy up to 1,175 Citizen Soldiers and Airmen. Troops are reporting to duty at their assignments starting today.
The Soldiers will be available to aid local authorities in responding to storm damage in New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and the Southern Tier. The New York National Guard has stocks of equipment set aside specifically for storms and is also prepared to deploy aircraft and satellite communications systems as needed. The following vehicles, aircraft and equipment are also available:
· The New York National Guard has more than 900 high axle trucks and Humvees which can negotiate flooded areas, as well as long-distance transportation assets and engineering equipment which can be used as necessary.
· The New York Army National Guard has 11 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, two UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopters equipped with night vision equipment, and one CH-47 heavy lift helicopter available to respond.
· The New York Air National Guard has C-130 cargo aircraft ready to fly if required.
Today, 200 New York Army National Guard Soldiers will go on duty in New York City, operating from the Lexington Avenue Armory in Manhattan and the Jamaica Armory in Queens. In addition, the headquarters for Joint Task Force Sandy, which includes assets from both the Army and Air Force and other services, will stand up at Camp Smith Training Site north of Peekskill.
Troops are also being deployed starting today to Long Island to respond to the storm. The New York Army National Guard will mobilize 50 Soldiers from Latham and 15 Soldiers from Auburn, who are assigned to the 102nd Military Police Battalion in Auburn, to the Farmingdale Armed Forces Reserve Center to act as a response force in Suffolk County. Also today, the New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing will have 50 Airmen on duty at the Gabreski Air National Guard Base to handle missions on eastern Long Island and provide National Guard liaison officers to work with emergency management officials in Suffolk and Nassau counties. By 6 p.m. on Monday, a total of 250 Soldiers will be assigned to the Center in Farmingdale and 150 Airmen assigned at the Gabreski Air National Guard Base.
Another 200 Soldiers, mainly from the New York Army National Guard's 204th Engineer Battalion will go on duty Monday at armories in Binghamton, Walton, and Horseheads to respond to incidents in the Southern Tier. The 174th Attack Wing in Syracuse will provide 50 Airmen who will also be in place Monday evening.
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