Rockville Centre plans for the worst

In the wake of the March storm that paralyzed Rockville Centre for days, officials gathered on April 8 to discuss how the village can be prepared for future emergencies.

Village Administrator Frank Quigley presented a report to the Board of Trustees at a public briefing session. The report, called an after-action plan, combined suggestions from all of the village departments to help the village present a more organized front in the future.

One of the major improvements the village needs to make, according to the report, is in its dissemination of information. Many residents, especially those without power, were cut off from all information during the storm and did not know when their power would be restored.

“For the comfort of our residents, communications is crucial,” Quigley said. “If they have the information, they can make intelligent decisions, and that will take some of the anguish out of their experience.”

To that end, the village will add more managers to its emergency management team, including Jeff Kluewer, the village’s information officer. Quigley encouraged residents to go to the village’s Web site, www.rvcny.us, and register their cell phones for the reverse 911 directory.

Making the Recreation Center more secure in case of emergencies is another priority. “The Rec Center is a crucial part of our planning, and no one should take that for granted,” said Quigley. “The Rec Center would be a place of shelter for homeless individuals in Rockville Centre or people who were evacuated from other areas. And it would be very important to provide shelter for people with the resources of the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management backing us up.”

The plan calls for installing a generator at the Rec Center to ensure that it doesn’t lose power, as well as at Village Hall, the base of operations for the village in an emergency. There are also plans to add more phone lines to the power plant to handle an influx of calls during an emergency.

The most important thing the village can do going forward, Quigley said, is focus on public education. “There’s only so much that the Village of Rockville Centre can do to restore power if it’s out,” he said. “We have to do an improved job of informing and educating our residents as to what their part is in an emergency.

“If we can educate our residents to be self-sufficient for five to seven days,” Quigley added, “that will enable our crews to turn the power back on while people are helping themselves to stay safe.”

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