Residents were briefed on emergency preparedness in advance of Hurricane Irene’s expected arrival at the August 24 Plainsboro Township Committee meeting. As of Wednesday night projections called for Irene to hit central New Jersey at about 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 28.
Lieutenant Guy Armour said that earlier in the week police officials held a conference call with Fire Chief Doug Vorp regarding available resources. “He told us that he had everything in service at the fire department including a Marine 49 boat should flooding become an issue. They have two four-wheel drives available including a brush truck and other trucks that are able to get through water,” he said.
Also this week Lieutenant Troy Bell met with Neil Blitz, superintendent of public works, who said he will be putting employees on-call if they are needed to assist police and set up barricades for any roads that may incur flooding. Plainsboro Police also plan to coordinate with the local CERT (community emergency response team) for their status and potential for participation.
Deputy Mayor Neil J. Lewis said for most of the week the township has received a continual flow of information generated by the New Jersey Emergency Network . “There’s a lot of activity people are not aware of,” he said.
Lewis noted an active band across the bottom of TV screens on both FIOS and Comcast community channels is ready so police can transmit information to residents via television. Also in place: A reverse 911 line, a system that allows emergency services to quickly contact community members.
Lt. Armour also said that if indications show the storm will be stronger than normal the police have the ability to increase staffing levels on Sunday. “If that track stays the same for 2 p.m. we will increase manpower by two officers on Sunday, then our Sunday night squad will have five officers.”
Armour believes last week’s substantial rainfall provided a practice run, and because that worked out very well the police will follow a similar plan. Others at the meeting, including Police Chief Richard Furda, agreed.
The police and administration are confident and they believe citizens should take precautions but rest assured as well. “Our emergency preparedness program is actively in gear. The people of Plainsboro should be comfortable that our planning is acted through,” he said.
