The Town of Shandaken has declared a state of emergency due to the threat of Hurricane Sandy, effective at noon on Sunday.

Town supervisor Rob Stanley told the Watershed Post that a formal emergency declaration would allow the town to prepare more rapidly and efficiently for the storm.

"The reason we're doing a state of emergency now is to allow us to requisition stuff. It allows us to get stuff prepared, and those costs will be reimbursed if a situation does develop," Stanley said.

According to an email sent by county Emergency Communications director Art Snyder, an emergency shelter would be open at the Belleayre Ski Center by 8am on Monday. Emergency plans are being made to host an additional shelter at the Phoenicia Elementary School, but only if Phoenicia is cut off from major road access, like it was during the Irene floods.

The town is asking residents who need immediate assistance to go to the nearest firehouse. Here are the firehouse locations:

Phoenicia/ M.F. Whitney Hose Company – 58 Rt. 214 Phoenicia, NY 12464
Phone: (845) 688-7315

Barbara Gref, who owns the hydroelectric dam on Lake Jefferson that provides power to WJFF Radio, informs us that the water level in the lake will be lowered today, at the request of the town of Callicoon:

In advance of the storm, the Town of Callicoon in Sullivan County has asked Jeffersonville Hydroelectric to lower the lake level on Lake Jefferson. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Regional Office this morning said OK to this plan. Jeff Hydro has opened its gate valve to help lower the lake level. Lakeside residents may notice a lower than normal level. People downstream may notice brownish water with this greater-than-normal release.

Photo by Flickr user Dvortygirl. Published under Creative Commons license.

Rich Muellerleile, captain of the Shandaken Ambulance Service (and author of the Watershed Post's safety column, Stayin' Alive), has a message for Catskills residents: If you need medication, make sure you have at least a week's supply on hand now.

"If you have meds that you're going to need to order, put the order in now," he said.

For people living on remote roads or behind private bridges, the threat of being cut off from the outside world by flooding is very real. During the Irene floods, residents in Shandaken's Oliverea Valley were stranded for days after floodwaters cut a 50-foot ravine across Oliverea Road.

Shandaken first responders were able to get essential medications to stranded people with ATVs during Irene, but the effort taxed the department to its limits, Muellerleile said.

Brief, blunt, and to the point. The Town of Olive is distributing leaflets around town over the weekend, telling residents in flood-prone areas not to wait for official notice of evacuation if things get dangerous:

Severe Flooding may occur and the Town does not have the manpower to go door to door to check on each home. You are urged to evacuate early if conditions are warranted.

Check the Olive website: town.olive.ny.us, radio and YNN often for updates.

During the Irene and Lee floods in 2011, many Olive residents were stranded when roads washed out. About a month later, on September 28, the Olive fire department made a dramatic rescue of several Watson Hollow Road residents across the raging Bushkill during a flood.

In anticipation of the coming storm, Sullivan County Community College has cancelled all classes for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The college will also be closing its residence halls from Sunday noon to Wednesday noon, and has told all residential students to go off-campus for the duration.

SUNY New Paltz has not yet determined whether classes will be cancelled. In a message to the campus community, officials say that the university is stockpiling food and taking extra precautions to prevent flooding of campus buildings, and that students, faculty and staff should stay tuned to the campus-wide text and voice emergency alert system.

SUNY Ulster has not announced any cancellations. But campus officials say that if the storm causes cancellations or delays, they will post information on the college's website and Facebook page, as well as alerting local TV and radio stations.