Calls to deliver Suffolk spraying alerts
A file photo of Chris Rankin, Suffolk County Equipment Operator, spraying a pesticide through the streets of Ocean Bay Park on Fire Island June 30, 2010. Credit: Sally Morrow
Suffolk officials will let residents know when they plan to conduct aerial and ground spraying to control mosquitoes through automated phone calls placed a day in advance.
Suffolk Health Department Commissioner James L. Tomarken and Suffolk Department of Public Works Commissioner Gilbert Anderson announced Monday that they will use the CodeRED system to notify residents of scheduled pesticide sprayings to control the spread of West Nile virus through mosquitoes.
The calls will be made to homes between 4 and 10 p.m. on the day before the spraying is scheduled, the officials said in a news release.
They said the high-speed mechanism can place millions of calls a day.
The system has been in place since 2010, when the Suffolk Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services started paying Emergency Communications Network to alert residents of an emergency, such as a natural disaster.
It can also send out email and text messages.
-- Zachary R. Dowdy
