Storm response is a team effort in Clarkstown

News 12 stopped by Clarkstown Town Hall Wednesday to learn more about their storm response.

Diane Caruso

Aug 7, 2024, 9:39 PM

Updated 38 days ago

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As towns clean up from Tuesday’s storm, many are gearing up for another round of rainfall.
News 12 stopped by Clarkstown Town Hall Wednesday to learn more about their response.
The Clarkstown Police Department’s Office of Emergency Management plays a major role.
“When these storms hit, it is not the time to figure out what you’re going to do in the moment because by the time you are able to react, it’s going to be too late,” said Officer Lou Colesanti, who has served with OEM for the last few years. He explained OEM meets with utility companies a few times a year to prepare for severe weather. It builds relationships and better communication like with Veolia.
“They [Veolia] provide us updates on the levels of the reservoir and other waterways in the area, which would basically gave us a preview of if those waterways arising to rapidly, we can know that there’s going to be flooding eventually," says Officer Colesanti.
He also showed News 12 the OEM vehicle that is equipped with various tools.
The Office of Emergency Management has about a dozen portable generators to help run traffic lights that lose power.
”It’s really a great system here in Clarkstown,” said Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann inside the police station's monitoring room.
The town is preparing for another round of storms.
“Right now, it’s just a state of preparedness in getting alerts from the state, the county and then OEM and the police department helps us coordinate so we can re-disseminate that back out to all department heads.”
When bad weather hits, the police chief says listen to authorities and stay home if you can.
Clarkstown police chief Jeffrey Wanamaker says, “we don’t want any accidents happening. We don’t want a car to get flooded out and then, what that does is takes away from our resources where we could really help someone in a true emergency.”
Clarkstown's Office of Emergency Management wants to remind folks to have charged phones, gas in your car, and flashlights before a major storm.