Preparations
44 hours before Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for the coastline from Little Egg Inlet southward into the Mid-Atlantic. A day later, the watch was extended northward to Sandy Hook. When Isabel was 26 hours from making landfall, the watches were changed to tropical storm warnings, and 10 hours before it struck land the National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for the remainder of the New Jersey coastline. The National Hurricane Center also briefly issued a hurricane watch for the New Jersey coastline. While over the western Atlantic Ocean as a Category 5 hurricane, forecasters predicted Isabel would move northwestward and within five days be at a position 170 miles (275 km) south of Cape May as a 115-mph (185-km/h) major hurricane. By four days before the hurricane struck land, at least one computer model predicted Isabel would strike New Jersey.
News stations stationed crews along the Jersey shore several days in advance of Isabel to provide breaking news and live conditions. Many residents prepared their houses by boarding windows and purchasing emergency supplies. The Sussex County chapter of the American Red Cross advised local high schools to be on stand-by as potential shelters in the event evacuation occurred. Emergency coordinators in several counties were on alert, though none issued evacuations. In preparation for anticipated power outages, the Jersey Central Power and Light company arranged to receive more electrical crews from its parent company, FirstEnergy. Other utility workers from various locations as far as Canada left for the state in the event of power outages.
Several flights in and out of the state were delayed or canceled, and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry canceled travel across the Delaware Bay during the duration of Isabel. In Atlantic City, casino workers prepared for coastal flooding by placing sandbags at boardwalk entrances. New Jersey Transit workers secured its buses, railways, and light rail equipment. To ensure service would remain accessible during and after the hurricane, NJ Transit prepared backup generators, pumps, and chainsaws, with workers inspecting trains and the paths of the lines. FEMA mobilized and dispatched an Urban Search and Rescue Task Force of 28 people to the state for possible rescue duty. Days before the storm made landfall, the Salvation Army prepared food and aid for potentially affected citizens. In anticipation for the effects of Isabel, Governor Jim McGreevey declared a state of emergency, which allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deal with the situation.
Read more about this topic: Effects Of Hurricane Isabel In New Jersey
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The most evident difference between man and animals is this: the beast, in as much as it is largely motivated by the senses and with little perception of the past or future, lives only for the present. But man, because he is endowed with reason by which he is able to perceive relationships, sees the causes of things, understands the reciprocal nature of cause and effect, makes analogies, easily surveys the whole course of his life, and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)
“Whatever may be the reason, whether it was that Hitler thought he might get away with what he had got without fighting for it, or whether it was that after all the preparations were not sufficiently complete—however, one thing is certain: he missed the bus.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)