Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York on Friday
declared a state of emergency in all New York
counties because of Hurricane Sandy.
Hurricane Sandy is a huge weather system that
forecasters expect to hit Long Island and the
New York metropolitan area next week.
According to local media reports monitored by
the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Cuomo in a
new conference advised residents to take
"common-sense steps" such as clearing yard
debris and stocking up on food.
``There's no reason to panic," Cuomo said,
adding that it was early in storm preparations
and "better to err on the side of caution."
According to him, the declaration will free
officials to make emergency decisions, help
make equipment and personnel available from
the National Guard and clear the way for a
federal disaster declaration, if needed.
Residents of flood-prone areas south of
Sunrise Highway or north of Route 25A were
advised to be prepared to evacuate their
homes as early as 3 p.m. Saturday.
They were also advised that objects should be
removed or tied down in backyards, and that
they should have battery-operated radios for
the latest updates on the storm.
The reports disclosed that the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) also warned
that the impending storm could force the
second system wide MTA shutdown in history
due to sustained winds of 39 mph and above.
The first shutdown occurred in August 2011, in
advance of Tropical Storm Irene.
Sandy remained a Category 1 hurricane on
Friday after leaving 43 dead across the
Caribbean, and had been projected to make
landfall on Tuesday morning over Maryland.
``It's going to be a very large and powerful
storm,’’ the media reports quoted a National
Weather Service meteorologist in Upton, David
Stark, as saying.
As at 8 p.m. Friday, National Hurricane Centre
forecasters said the storm was about 400 miles
south-southeast of Charleston, S.C., with
maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
No comments:
Post a Comment