Some Information about Long Island for Emergencies

 

Long Island is a unique place and some of the things you have read may apply and may not to our area. From living and working here all my life I have some information you may want to know. Let’s talk about your utilities first:

 

 

Electric: I think you already pretty much know about this, sometimes in bad weather it goes off. If terrorists hit it may do the same. Knocking it out for days would be unlikely, even a severe storm doesn’t do that usually and that hits the whole system all at once. A terror attack couldn’t hit the whole system. Electric can be rerouted to your home or business from several directions without the utility leaving their office. It will come back on if it goes off. Don’t open the frig if the weather is hot; don’t leave the house door open if the weather is cold. Have a good flashlight with batteries around.

 

 

Telephone: Every town has a switching office, they can’t hit them all. Can they knock out your phone, sure but they can’t knock out everyone's. Could it be out long? The phone company will tell you it will be on by 5 PM. That’s what they read off the sheets in front of them. What would probably happen; if we had a major problem, everyone would pick up their phone to call loved ones. This would cause some not to get dial tones, even with nothing wrong. Just hang up and try later. The phone company has battery backups and generators, they will be there. If you have a cell phone you will see that with everyone trying to use them at once that service will be hard to get. Cell calls are carried over the land lines after they are received by the cell site by you. Service will come back, just wait.

 

 

Water: You are not going to lose it on Long Island, baring them blowing up the road down the block from you and they aren’t going to do that. The water that comes to your house or business comes from hundreds of wells. It took hundreds of years for the water to get down that low where it is pumped from. Even if they poisoned one well directly there is too much water to poison, you would have to have truckloads of poison to dump in just one well and as I said the water is mixed with other wells, you probably wouldn’t even get sick. If you have your own well and you have power you are fine. Don’t bother filling the tub with water unless you are taking a bath! You may need power to make hot water, don’t waste it. Pump stations have generators; don’t worry about losing your water.

 

 

TV and Radio: We have so many types of transmissions to get signals here. One or all will be there for you. Can you lose cable? Sure, it works the same as electric. We are high tech here; they will get the signals back, use another source if your normal one is not there for some reason. Keep batteries around for those radios or use the radio in the car. Just a word of caution, reporters will say a lot of stuff that is wrong, just wait it out to get the right facts from a few sources. They will always make it sound worse then it is, don’t panic but do listen.

 

 

Post office: Hey if you are scared and don’t want to leave your house or get separated from loved ones who live far away and you can’t call them, send a letter. The mail will get there in a day or two. The postman will pickup your out going mail from your mail box. Even if you are leaving your home, a quick note in the mail will tell your loved ones where you have gone.

 

 

Food: People will make a run on the food stores; you should always have 5 days of food or more at home that doesn’t spoil. The shelves may look bare in the store, I am sure they will look real full at a lot of peoples houses. Nobody is going to starve to death.

 

 

Travel: If something happens, stay where you are until you know what is going on. People will know where you are, if not try to let them know. The roads may be busy or closed. Keep in mind they may impose rules for multiple people to be in the car for crossing bridges or tunnels. You should always have an alternate place to meet and maybe one close and one far if you lose contact with people. If you think a loved one is near an area where a problem is and you are worried, do not go there to check on them. You might face danger and they have probably left to come to you, you will miss them. If you leave where you are leave a note where you have gone and how you can be reached.

 

 

Go Box: This is a more like a plan, but you should have a list of what you would like to bring with you if you have to leave and have a box ready to put it in. Your flashlight, radio and bottles of water etc. should already be in the box. Have your list in there which tells you what you want to take. Don’t forget spare underwear and clothes. You will probably not be thinking straight when you need to go, this will be a big help. Make sure you have your necessary medications in there. See the other pages for more on this and besides you know what you need, write it down now while you are calm and thinking straight.

 

 

Money: Keep some extra cash on you and some around somewhere. There is a chance the banks would close and the ATM’s won’t work. I am not certain if the bank lost its phone lines or power if they can give you money from your account. Your charge cards are no good without power or phone service either. Remember the phones can be tied up from over use.

 

 

Fuel for the Car or Heat: Don’t let the car go less than half full, nor the fuel oil go real low in your oil tank for heat and hot water. If you have natural gas heat, you will not lose your gas service.

 

 

Internet: This stuff may keep going. You will probably need power and phone or cable service though to make it happen. It is a good medium to keep in touch with people. Leave your family and friends a message here as they may not have service now but will get it back soon and they will want to know you are ok. Even if you can’t get radio or TV service live over the air you will be able to get it here if you have internet service, don’t forget that. Almost all the TV and Radio Stations have a web site with news.

 

 

Medications: Don’t let them get too low, try to always have a few days of extra pills. Have a list of everything you take with the doses and doctors name and phone number who prescribed them in your go box. If you go somewhere and just take a few pills with you, you may need to get some additional ones while you are away. Generally the pharmacy will let you have a few even without a prescription if you really need them. Remember you will have to pay for them so have that money ready.

 

 

Animals: Don’t forget about your beloved pets. They aren’t going to starve over night but they will be pretty unhappy in a few days with no food. At a minimum if you are leaving them behind, leave them plenty of water. Not all shelters will let you bring them in, have a plan for them they are counting on you!