Thiele, Dougherty, Throne-Holst, And Wilkinson Announce LIPA Hurricane Preparedness Seminar July 26

New York State Assemblymen Fred W. Thiele, Jr., Shelter Island Town Supervisor Jim Dougherty, Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, and East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson partner with LIPA’s Chief Operating Office, Michael Hervey to host an East End Hurricane Preparedness Seminar. The Seminar will be held at The Hampton Library, located at 2478 Main Street in Bridgehampton on Thursday July 26^th at 6pm.

Now is the time to start preparing for extreme weather events that could affect the East End of Long Island. Residents are encouraged to come learn about LIPA’s new preparedness, communication, emergency, and restoration procedures and initiatives. Learn about ways you can better prepare for and manage a power outage caused by an extreme weather event.

“I applaud LIPA’s new hurricane preparedness initiatives and their desire to partner with East End municipalities to host this seminar, “said Assemblyman Fred Thiele.  “Preparing for the next hurricane or tropical storm should be of the utmost importance to East End families. I encourage everyone to attend this free event.”

“Hurricanes and seasonal tropical storms are major challenges for Shelter Island” Jim Dougherty, Shelter Island Town Supervisor, commented.  “We are an isolated community with a large senior population, many living alone.  Shelter Island is fortunate to have a dedicated Emergency Preparedness Team, who work effectively with, and heavily depend upon, our LIPA partners”.

Southampton Supervisor Anna Throne–Holst stated, “Preparation is essential to our ability to manage the impacts of major storm events.  As we were reminded by Tropical Storm Irene last fall, our area is prone to power outages during high wind events.  LIPA has worked hard to improve its ability to respond to outages and to better communicate with residents and municipal emergency managers during these stressful times.  We are pleased to offer this forum as an opportunity to keep residents informed about the progress LIPA has made, the communication tools that will be available to them, and to review how best to prepare for the possibility of future outages.

“As we learned in the last two years with both Irene and Earl, you cannot be over prepared when it comes to Hurricanes on our East End,” noted East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson.  “I welcome the opportunity to join our Assemblyman Fred Thiele, my Supervisor colleagues from other East End Towns and Mike Hervey to have an informative emergency preparedness dialogue as we engage this year’s Hurricane season.”

“I commend our government leaders on the East End for hosting this important forum,” said LIPA chief operating officer Michael Hervey. “LIPA continues to identify and implement new measures to improve our storm communications and restoration procedures such as our mobile web site and texting service to report and receive outage information from their handheld devices as well as enhanced coordination with municipalities on tree and debris removal.  In addition, I encourage residents to start preparing now to reduce the effects of any natural disaster and plan for a multi-day outage. This includes planning a hurricane route, preparing an emergency kit, and making sure you are able to stay connected to the latest weather reports and emergency broadcast.”

Also, if you or anyone you know depend on electricity for emergency medical and life-support equipment, please register for LIPA’s Critical Care Program. Customers enrolled in the Critical Care Program will receive advance notice of scheduled outages and severe weather that may cause power outages. This will enable customers who depend on electricity for emergency medical and life-support equipment to make advanced preparations. To enroll or obtain more information on Critical Care call 1-800-490-0025 or visit http://www.lipower.org/residential/custserv/services-care.html .

For more information or to register for the July 26^th Hurricane Preparedness Seminar, please contact Assemblyman Fred Thiele’s District Office at 631.537.2583.