Preparing For Floods 87 by Thorn Lippman, Shelter Office
Nassau County Office of
Civil Preparedness
While Long Island does
not have a river that
could flood, we do have to
be -ready --for flooding
from the numerous canals,
Long Island Sound, and
the Atlantic Ocean. All,
or any of these could
flood, and the resulting
consequenses could be
severe.
The National Weather
Service'will issue watches
and warnings for floods,
just as it does for other
severe weather conditions.
A Flood Watch means
flooding could occur,,
while a Flood Warning
means flooding will
probably occur. Local ra-dio
and television stations
will broadcast these an-nouncements.
These no-tifications
will inform you
as to the expected sever-ity,
the affected areas,
and when the flooding
could begin.
If you are made aware
that flooding could occur
in your area, do you know I
what to do? If a Flood
Watch has been issued,
protect outside items by
moving them inside if
possible, or at least, tie:
them down securely.
Disconnect any electrical
appliances if the item
cannot be moved to a
higher floor of your
home. Keep listening to
the radio or television for
further information and
advice. Have a portable
radio and a flashlight
available, along with' extra
batteries for each. If the
suggestion is made to
evacuate, do it, don't
wait. It is possible that
flooding is occurring in
the escape route area,
even if it has not affected
the area where you live.
When you leave, make
sure you have all neces-
4 sary medication for you
and your family. Secure
all doors and windows
when you leave.
Flooding can result from
adverse weather condi-tions,
storms, unusually
high tides, prolonged or
intense rainfall or even
high .winds. Manmade
structures or developments
can also result in flood-'
ing, if they interfere with i
the soils ability to absorb;
water. '.'
Improved warning sys-tems
and evacuation
measures have greatly re-duced
loss of life, but in
many cases nothing will
prevent property losses
due to flooding. Too of-ten,
it is only after a
flood that property owners;
learn that their home-owners
policies do not
protect them against
losses from floods.
In 1968, Congress es-tablished
the National
Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP) to provide finan-cial
protection from flood
losses. This protection is
available to homeowners,
renters, and business
owners who have insur-able
property that is at
risk from flooding. The
NFIP is basically an
agreement between local
communities and the fed-eral
government. If the
community agrees to im-plement
programs to re-duce
future flood risks,
then the federal govern-ment
agrees to make flood
insurance available' to "that
community. Nassau
County is a participating
member of the NFIP and
so if you have questions
about protecting your
property against flooding
it is suggested you contact
the agent, broker or com-pany
that you have your
homeowner's policy with,
or you might want to call
the NFIP toll-free inform
mation system at 800*
638-6620.
-This is ,the time ,to think
about your coverage, not
when you hear a flood
warning, or a flood watch
on the radio or television.
There is normally a five
day waiting period be-tween
the time flood in-surance
is purchased and
the coverage is in force.
If your property suffers
flood damage, it will help
if you can substantiate
your claim by providing a
list of all personal prop-erty,
including furniture,
clothing and valuables.
Take both interior and
exterior photographs and
keep the list and the
photographs in a secure
location such as a safety,
deposit box (this infor-mation
will be helpful to
you regardless of the
reason you are filing an
insurance claim).
For further information
about the National Flood
Insurance Program or for
free copies of Federal
Emergency Management
Agency and/or State
Emergency Management
Office brochures that deal
with emergency prepared-ness,
write to the Nassau
County Office of Civil
Preparedness, 140 15th
Street, Mineola, New York
11501 or call 535-7524.
IT'S SMART...
Clean Up!
Fix Up!
Paint Up!
Increase the value
jof your property.
REFERENCE ONLY
APRIL 1987
ews
ublic Information Bulletin
.o,f:
;5he^ Village Of Freeport
46 North Ocean Avenue
Telephone FReeport 8-4000
Dorothy Storm, Mayor
—''• Meet With Mayor: 8:30am-4:00pm, Every Fri.
Public Meetings: 8:00pm, 1st and 3rd Mondays of the Month
Message From The Mayor
It recently became necessary for the Board of Trustees to pass laws restricting the
hours during which lawns may be watered, and prohibiting the continuous running
of water from hoses when washing cars, etc. Previously approved was the require-ment
to obtain a water availability permit from the Water Department prior to the
issuance of a building permit. All new construction must Kave water conservation
devices on faucets, toilets, showers, etc. It may be necessary to put even further
restrictions in place.
Freeport is not alone in passing such laws. It has become necessary for EVERY
WATER DISTRICT IN NASSAU COUNTY to take measures. For instance other
communities not only limit the hours for lawn watering but also the number of
days.
This has come about because last summer, without prior warning, the State De-partment
of Environmental Conservation set a limit on the amount of water which
may be pumped in the future by all Nassau County water districts. These pumpage
caps are established based on the average pumped during 1981-85. If the amount
pumped in 1986 was above the five year average, the district was in violation.
Freeport was in violation, and so far in 1987 we continue in violation, in spite of
the Village request for voluntary compliance, with even more water being consumed
in the first two months of this year than during the same period last year.
Water conservation must be taken seriously by us all. For that purpose, the Vil-lage
no longer gives a discount rate to large consumers. All customers are now me-tered
and the less water they use the less they pay. We will continue to bring you
conservation tips in this and other publications. In the near future each water cus-tomer
will receive a special water conservation kit containing a brochure, shower
head constrictors and a plastic bag which can be filled and placed inside the toilet
tank to reduce the amount of water used for each flush. I urge them to use them.
The new laws are effective as of May 1. They, and any others that may be put in
place, will be enforced by Water and Building Department employees as well as
summer help. First time offenders will receive a warning. Repeat offenders will
receive a summons to Village Court where they will face a maximum fine of $250.
It is hoped we can count on voluntary compliance.
In the meantime, as both the Mayor of Freeport and the President of the Nassau
County Village Officials Association, I have testified at public hearings protesting
the precipitous manner in which it was imposed and requesting that this onerous
water cap be lifted by, the, State. Nojme in local government argues against the
need to conserve water but we do object to the arbritary cap set without consulta-tion
with the State legislature and local authorities. What is needed is a compre-hensive
conservation program which takes into account development which has oc-curred
since 1981-85, and anticipated growth.
orm
Trustees: Vincent DiCostanzo, Ralph Smith, Victor Cphen, Anna J. Cacciatore
Village Clerk: Thomas DeVincenzo; Counsel: William Glacken; Treasurer: Michael Haran
Arts Council News
Annual Ethnic Festival
The Arts Council at
Freeport, in conjunction
with the Recreation De-partment,
will hold the
3rd Annual Ethnic Festi-val,
Sunday, May 3, at
the Recreation Center, 11
am to 6 pin. Donations
will be accepted. This
celebration of nations and
their colorful folk arts
and crafts and music and
dance, and the presenta-tion
of foods from many
nations, has become a
popular full-day event for
Long Islanders.
Individuals and groups
who would like to exhibit,
perform or prepare food
should call the Council at
223-2522.
Arty Party
The Annual Arty Party
will be held on Saturday
evening, June 6, at the
Guy Lombardo Marina.
The theme, "Lights Fan-tastic,"
will recreate the
legendary parties and
roaring good times of the
L.I.G.H.T.S. Club (Long
Island Good Hearted
Thespian Society) a
gathering of vaudeville
Memorial Day •
All Village offices will
be closed on Monday, May
25, in observance of
Memorial Day. There will
be no garbage collection
in the northern section of
the Village on that day
and no trash pickup on
Thursday, May 28.
The William Clinton
Story Post of the Ameri-greats
who summered and
lived in Freeport in-the
early 1900's.
The evening will include
a Parade of Holidays
complete with antique
cars and costumes, cock-tail
hour with piano bar,
dinner, dancing and en-tertainment.
The ARTY
Award will be presented
to Mayor Dorothy Storm,
a founder of the Arts
Council, past Board
Chairman and a member
of the Honorary Commit-tee.
Tickets are $95 and
serve to support the pro-grams
and services of the
non-profit Arts Council.
They may be obtained by
calling 223-2522.
can Legion will hold
Annual Memorial
Parade beginning at
on May 25. The line of
march will be from the
Freeport High School on
South Brookside Avenue,
south to Merrick Road
and east on Merrick to
the Freeport Memorial Li-brary
where appropriate
ceremonies will be held.
Summer Positions
Students are urged to
apply now for summer
., jobs with the Village;
Such jobs include recre-ation
aide, laborer and
lifeguard.
Applications may be
obtained at the office of
the Village Clerk, Village
Hall, weekdays, 8:30 am
to 4 pm. Applicants will
be required to present
proof of residency in the
Village and must be at
least 18 years of age.
Lifeguards must have cer-tification.
If vacancies for life-guards
exist after May 10,'
applications will be ac-cepted
from non-residents
as well as residents, 17
years or older, with the
required certification.
WE MUST CONSERVE OUR WATER
IT IS NOW THE LAW:
• No irrigation and/or sprinkling of lawns
•between 9 am.and 5 p.m. •»
• No washing or rinsing of cars, trucks,
boats or other vehicles at any time unless
the hose has an automatic shutoff or a
nozzle that can be manually used to shut
off water flow.
Violators Of These Laws Are Liable To Summons To Court
feoooooosooooooooooooeocoooooooooooos sooocosococosoix
New Gun Training For Police
he members of the
t Police Depart-ment
are currently in-volved
in what Freeport
PBA President Jack Kir-bride
terms as "the best
firearms training in New
York State."
The training involves the
members' conversion from
the use of Smith-Wesson
weapons which hold six
rounds of ammunition to
the semi-automatic Sig
Sauer pistol holding 16
rounds. The Freeport
Board, of .Trustees, work-ing
with the PBA, ap-proved
the change of
weaponry late last year.
Initial training was un-der
an instructor from the
Rockwood Corporation's
Police Training Division
who prepared three local
officers as weapons in-structors
and nine others
as training assistants.
These officers are now
training the remainder of
the Department's force.
The intensive course in-volves
24 hours of class-room
sessions as well as
time at the pistol range
for tactical and night time
firing.
In discussing the im-portance
of the new guns,
Kilbride points to the New
York City police """officer1
killed last spring in a gun
battle with a drug dealer.
"The officer had a six
shot revolver while the
dealer had a 15 shot 9mm
automatic. While the of-ficer
was reloading, the
dealer executed him."
The PBA President also
said, "The Mayor and
Board should be congrat-ulated
for this innovative
move which goes a long
way in insuring the safety
and top efficiency of each
police officer in the
streets. Unfortunately,
most municipalities won't
respond to such requests
for updating until some-one
gets killed. It is
hoped that others will
follow Freeport's lead."
Mayor Dorothy Storm in
turn praised Kilbride
saying that "the switch to
the new weapons could
not have happened with-out
the support of the of-ficers
which he garnered.
This is a deep break with
tradition as it is the first
time in the history of the
Department that "the of-ficers
have purchased
their own guns." The
Village however supplies
ammunition and holsters
and is paying for the
conversion training."
Recreation Center Closing-
Residents are reminded
that the Freeport Recre-
_ation.. .Center... .will ,.be._
closed from May 11 to
May 22 for its annual
refurbishing. Winter
discount plans for the
Health Wing expire on
May 10. Annual Freeport
Activity Cards also expire
on that date.
Summer discount plans
and 1987-88 Activity
Cards may be purchased
beginning in mid-May.
.Annual,Plans.may..now be
purchased throughout the
year.
The annual brochure
detailing the various fa-cilities
of the Center and
the programming available
there as well as in neigh-borhood
parks, will be
mailed to residents in
May.
SUPPORT
YOUR LOCAL MERCHANTS
IMPORTANT
NOTICE
FREE
15 BROAD
M£NT.
Many times N. Y. 11520
during the year,
our area becomes
saturated with organizations attempting to
solicit funds by claiming to represent the
Freeport Fire Department.
NO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
REPRESENT US !!!
If you are solicited by any of these
organizations, kindly refer the matter
to your Freeport Fire Department. ••
