"Sandy's Watery Wake-up Call"

Check out the new Spring issue of Oculus featuring the article "Sandy's Watery Wake-up Call", written by DfRR co-chairs, Lance Jay Brown FAIA & Illya Azaroff AIA.  The article discusses and explores steps that must be taken to prevent future loss and devastation.

For the full article, click HERE.

Tune in...

Tune in to NY1 this coming Monday 1/28/13 @ 8:30pm to view Budd Mishkin's One on 1 interview with Klaus Jacob.  Discussion to include climate change and Hurricane Sandy.
Click Here for Link to Interview

NYC Construction Work Suspended At Noon Tomorrow Due To Potential Impacts Of Possible Nor'easter

Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri today ordered all exterior work at construction sites in New York City suspended as of noon, Wednesday, November 7 until 7 am, Thursday, November 8, due to a potential Nor’easter that may impact the area, according to the National Weather Service. All previously issued construction permits for exterior work, including crane permits, scaffold and sidewalk shed permits and after-hours variances, are suspended during this time period. This excludes work related to safeguarding construction sites or damage repair work related to the storm. The National Weather Service is forecasting impacts from the Nor'easter will bring potential flooding of coastal areas, rivers and streams, and high winds with gusts up to 60 mph.

In preparation for the stormy weather, the Department of Buildings is reminding all contractors and property owners to secure their construction sites and buildings. If construction sites are not safely secured in preparation for the inclement weather, the Department will take immediate enforcement action with the issuance of violations and Stop Work Orders if necessary.

These winds during the storm may reach higher speeds than forecast depending on the area of New York City. All contractors and property owners must take steps to secure their construction sites and buildings, which includes cranes, suspended and supported scaffolding, hoists and any other building appurtenances that may come loose under heavy winds and rain. Structures that have been subject to deferred maintenance or in delicate condition could be at greater risk. The Department strongly suggests consulting a professional to advise how to safely secure construction sites and buildings.

           

Hurricane Sandy: Estimated Losses Now Up to $50 Billion

Economic damages inflicted by Hurricane Sandy could reach $50 billion, according to new estimates that are more than double a previous forecast. Some economists warned on Thursday that the storm could shave a half percentage point off the nation’s economic growth in the current quarter.

Mike Groll/Associated Press

Link:  New York Times Article

Hurricane Sandy Tri-State Area Evacuations and Shelters

Hurricane Sandy Evacuation Orders And Shelter Locations in the Tri-State Area via CBS Local

SUFFOLK COUNTY:

Road conditions in Suffolk County via the Suffolk News Herald

Babylon – Mandatory Evacuation Category 1 areas and trailer parks
Huntington – Voluntary Evacuation Category 1 areas
Islip – Mandatory Evacuation Category 1 areas, trailer parks and Fire Island
Smithtown – No Mandatory Evacuation, voluntary on Long Beach Road
Brookhaven (North Shore) – Mandatory Evacuation Category 1 and Category 2 areas
Brookhaven (South Shore) – Mandatory Evacuation Category 1 Areas, Voluntary Category 2 areas
Riverhead – Mandatory Evacuation Category 1 and trailer parks
South Hampton – Mandatory Evacuation Category 1, trailer parks and Dune Road
Southold – Mandatory Evacuation Category 1
East Hampton – Voluntary Evacuation Category 1
Shelter Island – Voluntary Evacuation Category 1
LINK: List Of Shelters
LINK: Map Of Shelters

NASSAU COUNTY:
Mandatory Evacuation of all residents living in a flood or storm surge zone. This area is defined as south of Sunrise Highway, from the Queens line to Rockville Centre and South of Merrick Road, from Rockville Centre to the Nassau-Suffolk border.
This Mandatory Evacuation also includes the residents on the north shore of Nassau County that reside in low-lying areas and storm surge zones. Low-lying are defined as 15 feet above sea-level or less.
LINK: List Of Shelters

WESTCHESTER COUNTY:
No mandatory evacuations at this time, but people in flood zones should consider voluntary evacuation
LINK: List Of Shelters

ROCKLAND COUNTY:
The following areas have been requested to evacuate due to the impending high winds, rain and tidal storm surge:
• Flood prone areas in the Village of Piermont
• Ba Mar Trailer Park, Grassy Point, and Beach Road in Stony Point.

NEW YORK CITY:

Closed Grand Central by MTA/Aaron Donovan via Gothamist

Mandatory evacuations in effect for residents living in Zone A which includes:
• Coney Island, Manhattan Beach and Red Hook and other areas along the East River in Brooklyn;
• All of the Rockaways, as well as Hamilton Beach and Broad Channel in Queens;
• Almost all of the coastline of Staten Island;
• City Island, a small patch of Throgg’s Neck, and another patch of the South Bronx in the Bronx;
• Battery Park City and stretches of the West Side waterfront and of the Lower East Side and East Village in Manhattan.
LINK: Map Of Zone A

LINK: List Of Shelters


NEW JERSEY:

ATLANTIC COUNTY:
A mandatory evacuation of the barrier islands is in effect that includes Brigantine, Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate and Longport.
LINK: List Of Shelters

CAPE MAY COUNTY:
Mandatory evacuation for residents of Barrier Islands and Bayside Communities.
LINK: List Of Shelters

CUMBERLAND COUNTY:
Evacuation is strongly recommended for county residents along the Delaware Bay, Greenwich, Fairfield, South West of Route 553 in Lawrence, Downe and Commercial Townships, as well as residents that live South West of Route 47 in Maurice River Township, South of Bricksboro.
LINK: List Of Shelters

HUDSON COUNTY:
A mandatory evacuation is in effect in Hoboken for ground floor apartments.
A mandatory evacuation is in effect in parts of Jersey City for residents ground floor apartments.
LINK: List Of Shelters

OCEAN COUNTY:
LINK: List Of Shelters

CONNECTICUT:

Branford, Connecticut during Hurricane Irene in 2011
via the Coast Guard Compass

Branford: Mandatory evacuations ordered for all coastal areas and areas along Branford River.
Bridgeport: Mandatory evacuations for certain areas. Also, a mandatory evacuation for the University of Bridgeport.
Darien: Mandatory evacuations of all coastal areas, including Noroton Bay, Tokeneke, Contentment Island, Five Mile River Road, Holly Pond, Delafield Island and Tokeneke in the vicinity of the Five Mile River.
East Haven: Mandatory evacuations for all areas within two blocks of shoreline.
Fairfield: Mandatory evacuations south of the Oldfield/Old Post Road.
Groton: Mandatory evacuations.
Greenwich: Mandatory evacuations for areas 1, 2, and 3 as identified on the town’s Sea, Lake and Overland Surges. These are generally low-lying areas such as Mill Pond in Cos Cob, areas near the coast of the Long Island Sound and Byram River.
Guilford: Mandatory evacuations for flood-prone regions.
Madison: Partial evacuations.
Milford: Mandatory evacuations for low-lying areas.
New Haven: Evacuations for flood-prone regions (Morris Cove south of Girard Street, Front Street, Haven Street in Fair Haven, between South Water Street and the highway in City Point) beginning at 8:30 a.m. Monday. There is a recommended evacuation for low-lying areas of Blake Street.
New London: Partial evacuations.
Old Lyme: Mandatory evacuations.
Old Saybrook: Partial evacuations.
Stamford: Mandatory evacuations for certain areas.
Waterford: Voluntary evacuations recommended for all low-lying areas including Millstone, Ridgewood Park, Jordan Cove, Pleasure Beach, Smiths Cove, Niantic River, Golden Spur, and Oil Mill.
West Haven: Mandatory evacuations for everyone along Ocean Avenue and Captain Thomas on the beach side, everyone south of Park Street and everyone south of White Street from Peck to First Avenue.

NYC Hurricane Evacuation Map

NYC.gov has posted an interactive evacuation zone map with shelter locations. More information can be found at www.nyc.gov.

sample image via www.nyc.gov

Upcoming DFRR Event: After Disaster: How Does NYC Plan to Recover?

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM     Sunday, October 21, 2012
The Center for Architecture
536 Laguardia Place     New York, NY

We are at a watershed moment in government planning where agendas for disaster recovery and the development of sustainable communities are aligning at the Federal level. Two NYC agencies, the Office of Emergency Management and the Dept. of City Planning are developing plans that set national precedents for preparing for and responding to disaster. Speakers will present how the City plans to respond to disasters, and how that planning makes NYC more sustainable now. A new training opportunity for NYC architects to become a part of planned response funded through the AIA and Architecture for Humanity’s Disaster Resiliency and Recovery Program will be presented by Architecture for Humanity New York.

Welcoming Remarks:
Lance Jay Brown, FAIA and Illya Azaroff, AIA DfRR co-chairs

Moderator: 
Deborah Gans, AIA Principal,Gans Studio and Professor,Architecture School,Pratt Institute

Speakers:
Cynthia Barton, Housing Recovery Program, NYC Office of Emergency Management
Heather Roiter Damiano, Transportation and Infrastructure Unit, NYC Office of Emergency Management
Thaddeus Pawlowski, Office of the Chief Urban Designer at the NYC Department of City Planning
Katherine Malishewsky and Matt Charney, Architecture for Humanity’s New York City chapter (AFHny)

This event will show how the government organizes response to catastrophic events; it is the second event in a series sponsored by the AIAny’s Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee that looks at how NYC prepares for and responds to disaster. The first featured the NYC Dept. of City Planning’s work related to long-term climate change mitigation.

Cost: 
Free for AIA and ASLA Members and Students
$10 for non-members

Co-Organized by the AIANY Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee and NYASLA

NYC, OEM, and FEMA Test New Cell Phone Emergency Alert System

From FEMA: PLAN Details

From Washington Post: PLAN in DC and NYC

Photo by congressmannadler on flickr

www.nyc.gov/oem

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011 11-27
OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ADVISES NEW YORKERS ABOUT UPCOMING TEST OF WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERTS FOR MOBILE PHONES


Test Another Step Toward Implementing Free Wireless Emergency Alerts, Also Known as the Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN)

On Thursday, December 15, 2011, the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM), in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)  and Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the Federal Communications Commission, will conduct a test of the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system – a new, free emergency notification service that will allow authorized government officials to send geographically targeted emergency alerts to enabled mobile devices on the AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon wireless networks. On Thursday, between 10 AM and 3 PM, OEM will send six test messages to WEA-enabled mobile devices prepositioned around New York City by OEM and FEMA. Those wireless devices that receive the test message(s) will emit an audible notification, regardless of the user’s ring tone or volume settings. A notification will be displayed on the screen of the device with text that reads: "Severe Alert" or "Extreme Alert." Users will see the following test alert when they open the WEA message: "This is a test from NYC Office of Emergency Mgmt. Test Message 1. This is only a test." Some WEA-capable mobile devices may receive more than one message.

In addition to the OEM and FEMA test phones, a number of newer mobile devices sold to the public by participating carriers may be WEA-capable and may receive one or more of the test messages. People who do not have WEA-capable mobile devices will not receive the test message(s). Due to the limited nature of this test, it is likely that most members of the public will not see the test message(s).

WEA, also referred to as the Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN) or the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS), was announced by Mayor Bloomberg, FEMA, the FCC, and the four nationwide wireless providers in May 2011. On January 1, 2012, a pilot of the WEA system is scheduled to go live in New York City. When the pilot program begins, mobile users on participating wireless networks will receive three types of alerts from WEA: alerts issued by the President, alerts involving imminent threats to safety of life or property, and AMBER Alerts. Participating carriers may offer devices that allow subscribers to block all but Presidential alerts. There is no charge to the mobile users receiving these alerts. www.nyc.gov/oem

In 2006, Congress passed the Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN) Act, requiring the FCC to adopt rules allowing mobile carriers to voluntarily transmit emergency alerts to their subscribers. The FCC rules required participating mobile carriers to begin deploying WEA technology by April 2012. WEA alerts will not be stalled by user congestion, which may happen with standard mobile voice and texting services. Users are not required to register or opt-in for the WEA program. Many new phones on participating carriers will be equipped to receive WEA messages.

In addition to WEA, New Yorkers can receive text, e-mail, and phone alerts about emergencies and special events in their neighborhoods through Notify NYC. Notify NYC launched citywide in May 2009 after a year-long pilot program, fulfilling a commitment made by Mayor Bloomberg in 2005. Residents in all five boroughs can register an e-mail address, text message account, or phone number for up to five zip codes to receive Notify NYC advisories for free.

For more information on WEA, visit the Federal Communications Commission website at www.fcc.gov. For more information about Notify NYC visit www.nyc.gov or call 311.

Resilience: Volunteer for Preparedness

Image by: FEMA Ready Kids

New York State's program website, New Yorkers Volunteer - Disaster Preparedness, offers opportunities for volunteers to get involved in community disaster planning and response.

Their steps, borrowed from the American Red Cross:
Get a Kit
Make a Plan
Be Informed.