East Hampton Town sets up 'comfort' shelter - just in case

As a weakened Hurricane Earl moves up the coast, a "comfort" shelter at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center opened to East Hampton Town residents on Friday morning.

On Thursday night, town officials, cognizant of the community's large senior population, requested that the Red Cross open the shelter.

On higher ground than much of the area and with capacity for up to 150 people, the shelter is being offered to people who are seeking a haven where they could ride out the storm, even if their situation is not life threatening, said Craig Cooper, spokesman for the Red Cross's Suffolk Chapter.

A gym on the center's second floor has 24 cots, and there's a special needs room on the first floor for seniors. The shelter also has a covered area with crates for pets, and a kitchen. It does not have its own power generators.

"It's a shelter for your comfort, safety and peace of mind," he said shortly before the shelter's 11 a.m. opening.

John Rooney, the town's superintendent of recreation, said the town is taking the storm seriously, despite reports its severity has been downgraded.

All town beaches are closed to swimmers, and some, including Indian Wells Beach, are roped off, with no access.

"We're just assuming the worst," Rooney said.

All of the Red Cross' 25 other Suffolk shelters are on standby, and are not staffed, Cooper said. Only the community center here is Montauk, not an officially listed shelter, is staffed now, with four Red Cross volunteers and 10 people from the Montauk Fire Department's Ladies Auxiliary. Red Cross is focusing efforts here, Cooper said, because Montauk is likely to be hardest hit.