Earl shuts all Suffolk beaches, some parks
Hurricane Earl is causing the closing of everything from beaches to railroad runs.
All Suffolk County beaches and ocean-based campsites will close Thursday and not reopen until Saturday morning, when Hurricane Earl presumably will have passed Long Island, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said.
Cedar Point Park in East Hampton will also be closed, Levy said. New York State has already closed Robert Moses State Park.
Levy also said no westbound Long Island Rail Road trains from Montauk and the North Fork will leave after 5:30 a.m. Friday morning until Saturday. Bay Shore-based Fire Island Ferries will not run Fire Island-bound vessels after 3 p.m. Friday, Levy said.
The county does not plan to open emergency shelters, Levy said, but has standby locations at Riverhead High School and the John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility in Yaphank.
Levy also said the county has filed a pre-landfall request for federal assistance in storm cleanup.
Meanwhile, the Long Island Power Authority has emergency workers ready, the Nassau and Suffolk chapters of the American Red Cross shelters on standby, and even pets in need will have somewhere to go should the Island be battered Friday by Hurricane Earl.
"We have no plans for evacuations at this time," Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-East Setauket), deputy presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature said Thursday. "But that, of course, is able to change at a moment's notice if we see the hurricane is changing its direction."
The county has identified Riverhead High School as its primary East End emergency facility - outfitted with cots, blankets, toiletries and room for 900 people, Viloria-Fisher said. County residents with special needs, including the elderly, will be housed at the John J. Foley center in Yaphank, if needed. Residents with pets will be able to go to the nearby Suffolk County Fire Academy.
Volunteers will be contacting residents listed as homebound - calling to make sure those residents are not in need. And a volunteer county search and rescue team has been activated in case residents become trapped in homes or cars.
Officials said those with questions regarding emergency procedures should call their local fire department, which will have updates for callers.
Officials said LIPA has 1,600 workers - some from out of state - ready to respond should Earl hit Long Island harder than expected Friday into Saturday.
Levy encouraged residents to avoid calling 911 unless there is "a true life-or-death emergency" during the storm. People who lose power should call LIPA, he said, and those needing nonemergency police services should call 631-852-COPS.
On its present track, Earl is expected to pass well to the east of Long Island. Forecasters said, however, that could change and that, no matter what, the East End is expected to get hit with several inches of rain and wind gusts of tropical-storm strength.
