| Watershed Post

Hancock under state of emergency

The Delaware County Town of Hancock declared a state of emergency effective 6pm on Sunday evening, WBNG-TV reports:

Due to the anticipation of Hurricane Sandy, the town will remain in a State of Emergency until notified by the Chief Executive of the Town of Hancock, Samuel N. Rowe, Jr.

Posted on the Town of Hancock's website late Monday morning:

All Town offices will be closing at 12:30 PM Monday, October 29, 2012 - there will be no Court in the Town of Hancock today.

All roads in the village of Hancock are currently closed, according to Delaware County Emergency Services.

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Power outages begin ahead of Sandy's arrival

Above: A screenshot from NYSEG's power outage map taken around 8:30am, showing outages in Sullivan County.

Some Catskills residents are already waking up to power outages, even before the storm hits in full force.

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Local grocery stores prepare for a siege

Above: Sandbags surrounding the Boiceville IGA Supermarket. Photo by Jen Dragon.

Last year, Irene's floods tore through the heart of the Boiceville commercial district -- and the supermarket at the center of it. The Boiceville IGA Supermarket suffered over a million dollars' worth of flood damage from Irene, and was closed for over a month.

With Sandy on the way, workers were at the store on Sunday sandbagging to protect the building from more flooding. Reader Jen Dragon took some photos at the scene (above and below).

In Margaretville, the Freshtown, whose building forms a natural dam across the East Branch when it's at major flood stage, was even more badly hit by Irene. It took nine months for the supermarket, which opened again in May, to be rebuilt.

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Boiceville Supermarket IGA

Hurricane Sandy

Sandy preparedness

Obama declares federal emergency in New York State; deploys FEMA

Tonight, President Obama granted New York State's request for a federal emergency declaration. The declaration will release federal resources in advance of Hurricane Sandy's arrival in the Catskills on Monday, and allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund and help coordinate the relief and response effort.

Press release from President Obama:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal emergency aid has been made available to the State of New York to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy beginning on October 27, 2012, and continuing.

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Delaware Academy dismissing early on Monday

From the Delaware Academy/Delhi Central School District website:

Early dismissal 11:30 AM

Delaware Academy CSD at Delhi will be closing early. We will be conducting early dismissal at 11:30am. The board meeting for Monday evening has been postponed to Monday, November 5th. Mr. Jason D. Thomson Superintendent.

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SUNY New Paltz cancels Monday classes

The SUNY New Palt alert system just informed students that there are no Monday classses. Here's the text of the alert that was emailed to New Paltz subscribers:

Monday classes are canceled. Offices are officially open. Non-essential employees are asked to use their best judgment when choosing to travel to work and must charge leave credits if they choose to stay home.

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Town of Olive declares state of emergency; makes hotline; designates shelters

At 5pm today, Olive Town Supervisor Berndt J. Leifeld declared a state of emergency for the Ulster County town and urged residents in flood-prone areas to consider evacuating to higher ground if they feel threatened. Leifeld wrote that the Supervisor's Office will be open on Monday morning at 8am with information for residents at (845) 657-8118 x 4.

Shelters for the town of Olive are:

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Berndt Leifeld

Olive Fire Department

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Onteora Central School District closed on Monday for Sandy

According to the Onteora Central School District website, there will be no classes on Monday because of Hurricane Sandy:

Schools Closed due to Hurricane Sandy (Updated 10/28 at 6:45pm)

Based on concerns about potentially dangerous travel conditions and possible power outages due to the high winds and heavy rain as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the Onteora Central School District will be closed on Monday, October 29, 2012. Also,all after-school and evening activities are cancelled.

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Wind from the east will "stress the trees in an unusual manner"

In an email sent this afternoon, Ulster County Emergency Services Director Arthur Snyder wrote that Ulster County is now under a "high wind warning," partially because the storm winds will be coming from the east, an unusual direction. That will "stress the trees in an unusual manner," he writes:

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Ulster County declares state of emergency

Arthur Snyder of Ulster County Emergency Services writes this evening that Ulster County Executive Mike Hein has declared a state of emergency for Ulster County beginning at 8am tomorrow morning. Here's Snyder's email:

County Executive Michael P. Hein has pro actively declared a State of Emergency effective 8 AM Monday October 29, 2012. At this time, no special orders are associated with the State of Emergency. The Executive is taking the steps necessary to allow County departments to react to and manage all threats from Hurricane Sandy. The Emergency Operations Center will be fully operational and many shelters will also be opening at this time. County Offices will be open for business to meet the needs of the citizens.

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Michael Hein

Ulster County Emergency Management

Hurricane Sandy

Sandy preparedness

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