Power outages point to need for new emergency plans

HARLEM VALLEY — Last week’s storms caused emergency situations, including power outages and flooding, which were in most cases swiftly responded to, according to interviews with town supervisors, village mayors and fire department chiefs.While difficult to live through, the events provide an opportunity to look for ways to improve the region’s emergency response. A number of issues could have been minimized by having up-to-date emergency disaster plans in place. Interviews with local municipal leaders revealed that many need to update their plans before the next disaster strikes.In North East, there was initial confusion the morning of Monday, March 7, as to where residents could be sent in case of an emergency. There are only two locations in the town with the space to handle an influx of residents that also have generators: the Millerton firehouse and the American Legion Post 178.In both the town’s and village of Millerton’s disaster plans, the firehouse is listed as an emergency shelter, but it became clear on the morning of March 7 that it wasn’t ideal for the firehouse to be used as both a command center for response to emergencies in the community as well as a warming shelter. Firehouses throughout the region were being used as command centers for their communities.“The fire department has a generator but they had personnel going in and out of there all of the time,” North East town Supervisor Dave Sherman said. “It really was a command center for the purpose of trying to address calls, with people rolling in and out.”“It became obvious to us that with the number of firemen and other people helping, there’s no way the firehouse could be used,” added Millerton Mayor John Scutieri. “It definitely was the wrong place [for an emergency shelter].”Sherman said North East Fire District Commissioner George Lind contacted the American Legion early on the morning of Monday, March 7, asking to use the Legion Hall as the warming shelter.“It was a couple of hours down the line before they said we could come and be there,” Sherman said. “We brought our own personnel to be able to take care of folks there. Essentially, what was being done was to try to minimize any burden that would be incurrred on anyone at the Legion, other than having the doors open and the lights and heat on.” As it turned out, the shelter in Millerton saw only a fraction of the activity that shelters in Pine Plains and Amenia saw. Everyone interviewed said the American Legion was happy to accommodate the area’s needs, but that it would have been a smoother transition if North East had emergency disaster plans designating the Legion Hall as its warming shelter.“That falls back onto the town of North East supervisor,” said North East town Councilman Dave McGhee bluntly. “For years I’ve wanted him to update it, back to when I was fire chief. The Legion was good enough to do it, but the fire department has always been listed as the emergency shelter. Nothing’s been updated.”“The plan has not been updated and revised in the last few years,” Sherman acknowledged. “It’s considered out of date.”Millerton Mayor John Scutieri said that the Village Board would be looking at its plan as well for possible updates.“But it takes days like Monday,” the mayor said, to actually highlight how well an emergency plan works or doesn’t work. “You could have all of the disaster drills, but it doesn’t mean anything until you see it in action.”In Pine Plains, town Supervisor Gregg Pulver said that the town’s emergency plan was probably last updated about eight years ago.“We are definitely pulling that out, looking at what went right and what went wrong,” he said. “One of the things, I think, [that was a problem] was we had designated the schools as emergency shelters. But they don’t have generators.”Pulver also said that although the town’s community center, located on the second floor of the recently built library building, was adequate shelter space for this particular incident, in a more severe instance (say, a tornado), a bigger space would probably be needed.In Amenia, an Emergency Response Committee has been in place for years. The group includes a coordinator, members of local government, fire chiefs and rescue workers as well as any local residents who wish to volunteer.“Every year our emergency disaster plan gets updated,” said Dawn Marie Klingner, who took over the position of emergency response coordinator this year. “It’s a working document, and we try to keep it updated as often as possible.”Klingner pointed out that in an emergency, it’s a useful document to have in front of you, and in the plan there is a list of contact numbers for county and state agencies as well as local businesses and contractors that might help out in case of an emergency.“In Amenia, every year we seem to have flooding,” she said. “Roads are closing, things happen. I think it’s important that we stay prepared.”Having an up-to-date emergency disaster plan doesn’t guarantee that everything will be done correctly if an emergency situation occurs. Amenia had its fair share of issues during last week’s rain and ice storm (see related article about communications during a power outage on page A1), especially with communication with local residents. But all municipalities agreed their existing plans were better than having none. That said, they intend to meet soon to discuss making improvements to their emergency plans. “I find that the blame game and finger pointing, you can play that forever,” Sherman said. “We need to sit down and sort out how we can do this better. I was left with the impression that although there may have been some ruffled feathers here or there, and I understand their concerns, that otherwise it seems everybody was agreeable and worked together. Everybody who was doing something was doing it for the benefit of the community.”