Cortlandt Prepares for Hurricane Sandy

Editor's Note: The following was sent by the Town of Cortlandt.

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Our staff has been on the County Emergency and Con Edison conference calls today to coordinate preparation for this storm which will begin early Monday (October 29, 2012) according to current reports.

Our mechanics have inspected all of our trucks and equipment to be used during the storm.

The Supervisor will declare a state of emergency following a declaration from the Governor, if necessary. 

We will open an emergency shelter at our West Brook Drive Community Center, which will be staffed by town employees.  This facility has a back up generator.  The days and times will follow.

Sand bags will be available at no charge for Cortlandt residents at the Town’s Charles Cook Pool off Furnace Dock Road on SUNDAY, October 28th from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.  (up to 15 bags per household while supplies last).  

The Town’s emergency Code Red calling system will be implemented before, during and after the storm to bring you important information.  Also, please refer to the Town’s website at www.townofcortlandt.com and to Cortlandt’s Facebook page.

Our emergency service providers have been communicated with for coordination throughout the storm and the Town’s Emergency operating Center (EOC) will be opened at Town Hall before and during the storm.  The Supervisor and key staff will be at this center throughout the storm.

Also, the Town’s Highway office will be staffed throughout the storm, as well.  The e-mail is cathiev@townofcortlandt.com and the phone number is 737-0075.  

If there are roads closed, flooding, trees down, etc., all of this information will be posted on our town’s website, given out to the media, to the County and put into our Code Red phone calls.

The Supervisor and key staff will be holding preparedness conference calls throughout the weekend to stay on top of the coordination of storm activity and preparedness.

As in Hurricane Irene and most likely with this storm the main problems will be with power outages due to trees and wires coming down.  The Con Edison hotline number is 1-800-75ConEd.  

The aftermath of the storm typically involves opening up roads, cutting up felled trees, and removing the wires entangled in tree branches. Only Con Edison can address the wires.  They have already activated additional crews from outside New York State to assist.  The Town crews are already put on notice to be available throughout the storm and in the clean-up.

We strongly advise that all of our residents remain in their homes during and immediately after the storm for their safety.  We thank everyone for their cooperation and please stay safe!