Mayor: LHS Opens Sun. Night as Temporary Evac Center

The Lindenhurst High School will be open starting Sunday after 6:30 p.m. as a temporary evacuation center for Lindenhurst residents seeking refuge during Hurricane Sandy.

That's according to Mayor Tom Brennan and Bob Cozzetto, emergency services coordinator for Lindenhurst Schools.

They told Lindenhurst Patch on Sunday afternoon the school will be open to start receiving residents.

This is especially key as the mayor earlier today put a mandatory evacuation in effect for those residents living South of Montauk Highway, as did the Town of Babylon, which also declared a state of emergency earlier this afternoon, according to the mayor and Ray Fais, emergency manager for the Village.

They were at the third meeting to review emergency preparednaess in the Village in as many days, and it also included all of the trustees and officials from the Lindenhurst Fire Department, Suffolk Police First Precinct, Department of Public Works and Code Enforcement.

"A reverse 911 call is being sent to residents living South of Montauk, and the Lindenhurst Fire Department went out to alert residents to leave," the mayor told Patch at the meeting.

A reverse 911 call is also being sent out from Babylon Town describing the mandatory evacuation to residents living South of Montauk in areas like Venetian Shores.

Affected residents will be able to head to the high school for safety, but it's set up as temporary evacuation center, and not set up like the ones opened up in Suffolk County today in conjunction with the Red Cross and the SPCA (pet-friendly shelters).

"It's more of a refuge, not a full-blown shelter to ride out the storm," noted Cozzetto.

During the last major storm - Irene - the school was opened to residents, and while it only hosted a handful, it'll be set up in a similar fashion for those seeking shelter during  Hurricane Sandy .

"We had 17 people last time during Hurricane Irene, and they were very pleased. We had mats in the gym down, and we had a TV and a recorder for people to bring videos to watch," Cozzetto said.

There were also some snacks and water available, too.

Cozzetto said the school will be set up much in the same way.

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