City Urges Zone A Residents To Evacuate, And Other Pre-Hurricane Alerts

Ned Berke -
The city's website is currently down, as servers were overwhelmed with traffic.

With the city’s website – NYC.gov – taken out of commission by a spike in traffic, you might be wondering what the latest city announcements have been regarding Hurricane Irene. Here’s a roundup of recent alerts:

  • Earlier this morning, the National Weather Service issued a hurricane watch for the five boroughs. A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible in the next 48 hours. Residents in the Zone A evacuation area are encouraged to leave their homes before the storm arrives. A Category 1 hurricane is expected to impact our area from Saturday night through Sunday night. Rainfall of 5 to 10 inches is expected, with extensive flooding, tidal surges, beach erosion and winds 40 – 80 MPH with gusts approaching 100 MPH.
  • The New York City Department of Transportation will be suspending Alternate Side Parking Regulations Citywide on Saturday, 8/27/11, and Monday, 8/29/11, due to forecasted inclement weather. Parking meters will also be suspended citywide on these dates.
  • Police boats have been deployed to precincts in low-lying areas, on stand by for hurricane response.
  • Because Irene’s winds could bring down trees, all NYers should stay out of City parks Sunday, and their backyards if they have trees there.
  • New York City began evacuating hospitals and nursing homes in low-lying areas on Friday morning. This includes Coney Island Hospital and a number of local nursing homes. If you have loved ones at these locations, please contact the hospital or home for more information.
  • Mass transit officials are preparing for a possible shutdown, starting on Saturday, of their entire system — the subways and buses in New York City as well as the commuter rail lines in the suburbs.
  • The mayor has ordered all construction work citywide to halt until 7:00 a.m. Monday.
  • The mayor will decide whether to issue a general evacuation order of Zone A residents – which includes a large portion of our coverage area – by 8:00 a.m. Saturday.
  • Anyone who intends to use Access-a-Ride to evacuate should do so today, as capacity may not be available tomorrow.
  • Remove loose objects like lawn chairs,hanging plants and pots, garbage cans and other furniture from outside.