Social Media and Radio Station Helped Greenport Through Irene

For the first time since hit the village, Greenport trustees were able to review how the village responded to the storm at the Monday work session.

Village Clerk Sylvia Pirillo stayed on duty the Saturday before Irene hit to keep residents updated as events unfolded. She said the two most successful ways she found of getting the word out were on Facebook and radio station WLNG.

Mayor David Nyce also praised WLNG for the information it gave to village residents before, after and during the storm. 

North Fork Patch and the websites and Facebook pages also helped, the mayor added.

"At this point, people get their information in different ways, and the thing about WLNG and North Fork Patch in particular is that it's instantaneous," he said. "It depends upon the listener or the viewer to be engaged, but the more avenues we have to get that information out as fast as possible, the better."

During the storm, Nyce was stationed at the utility plant and Trustee George Hubbard was stationed at the Fire House on Third Street. The only problem the two men discussed was communication between to the two buildings and the employees in the field. Hubbard said people were calling him and asking him how the village was doing during the storm and he said he did not know because he was unable to communicate with anyone outside the fire department. Both men said it was a good drill for the village.

“This was a good test for us. No one was injured and it all worked out,” Hubbard said.

Hubbard said the village sustained significant tree damage and he said the Tree Committee would be looking at the trees in the village to determine which ones need pruning or removal. Nyce said the village would be seeking Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA) reimbursement for to compensate time spent on brush removal.

Jack Naylor, director of utilities, said the village would be going after mitigation funds from FEMA for long-term planning for items such as cleaning out the drain in Moore’s Woods and moving utility equipment out of the flood plain for future storms.

The mayor said a major glitch in the system happened when a person with special needs came to the shelter looking for power. Nyce stressed the area shelters are not the place to go if you have a major medical condition and need a steady power supply. Peconic Landing may be able to support a few individuals with basic special needs but the only facility set up to handle that is the hospital and if they are not accepting patients, the county has a facility, he said.

If the power goes out, only the shelter at Southold School has a generator for a portion of the building, Nyce said. Greenport School is directly hooked up to the utility building so if the village has power, the school has power.

 “If you have a medical condition that requires power, you need to call the county and be evacuated ahead of time,” Nyce said.

What Nyce said hit home more than anything else during the storm was the need for a proper plan before the storm, especially for the people who have unique needs.  If the village had known the individual needed shelter before the storm, arrangements could have been made ahead of time.

“People need to consider their needs in advance of a storm,” Nyce said.