Image of Hurricane Sandy Wave Pounding Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Park From Adib Mansour
As reported earlier this week:
Image of Hurricane Sandy Flooding Roosevelt Island West Promenade From Brian Dorfmann
Here’s what happened during the NYC Office Of Emergency Management ( OEM ) Roosevelt Island Hurricane Evacuation presentation. It began with introductory remarks from Roosevelt Island Residents Association ( RIRA ) President Ellen Polivy. Ms. Polivy told the assembled group that RIRA’s role:
… is to bring issues to light and get them fixed…
Ms. Polivy then introduced new interim Roosevelt Island Operating Corp ( RIOC ) Public Safety Department Director Jack McManus who spoke about his previous NYPD experience in emergency planning and management
followed by OEM’s Deputy Commissioner of External Affairs Christina Farrell and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Rachel Sulaymanov speaking about the new hurricane evacuation zones. Ms Farrell noted that:
…if Sandy comes again … there would have been a mandatory evacuation of the entire Roosevelt Island community…
OEM’s Ms Farrell and Ms.Sulaymanov then took questions from the community.
During the Q and A session, PSD Director Jack McManus said that the current Roosevelt Island evacuation plan is terribly outdated and that it is currently being updated. When the Roosevelt Island evacuation plan is completed, it will be made available to the public promised Mr. McManus.
The current Roosevelt Island evacuation plan had been kept secret.
More information on NYC Hurricane Preparedness and Evacuation available at the OEM web site.
