David Ziomek, Town Manager John Musante, AFD Chief Tim Nelson
After conferring with Police, Fire, Dispatch, DPW, IT department, Schools, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, an our three institutes of higher education, Town Manager John Musante declared this morning that the town is ready for superstorm Sandy barrelling our way.
At 8:30 AM he declared a state of emergency and all non essential town employees will go home at noon. A reverse 911 call will go out shortly to roughly 9,000 subscribers (about 10% of them cell phones). The Homeless Shelter at Baptist Church will be allowed to open at 5:00 PM today three days earlier than usual.
Generators at both Fire Stations, Police Station and all the schools have been tested and are ready to go. While no building has been designated a "warming shelter" depending on the severity of the damage a "convenience center" may be established at one of the buildings with a generator for folks to charge their high tech gadgets.
With schools closed and many businesses closing early, there's nothing left to do now but wait. And hope.
Town emergency memo
4 comments:
Hey Larry, heard a rumor Amherst PD is pulling over vehicles and making them explain why they are out. Just curious if you heard anything or if its just a rumor?
just a rumor. I was just out taking a picture of a pine tree resting on a power line in South Amherst and a cruiser went by me a couple times.
Larry, do you think that the APD doesn't know your vehicle -- and passed it by knowing who you were?
Of course you have now posted that the cruiser went by "a couple times" and that is the same problem that someone else had with his "riot" posting in reverse. In other words, you have shredded "probable cause" for anything they find in any other car tonight because they *weren't* "stopping everyone" and thus there is the _Prouse v. Delaware_ issue.
Larry, I much enjoy living somewhere other than Amherst. This afternoon there were a bunch 3-4 inch thick boughs in the road so I got out of the car and started tossing them on lawns on both sides of the road so as to clear the same. Officer goes by, waves and mouths "thank you" -- and in the real world he truly is grateful because otherwise he would have to get out of the warm/dry cruiser and do it himself. In the wind-driven rain.
By contrast, in Amherst, I probably would be arrested. For something.
The thing I still can't get over about the MBTA is that they have emergency air brake levers in every one of the cars - but no cameras. By contrast, the PVTA/UM Transit bus is a porcupine of cameras while anything that could control the vehicle must be isolated from the students because they could (and probably would) abuse it.
Larry, the kids riding the MBTA this fall were UMass Seniors last spring -- I think that all concepts of mutual respect have broken down between the UM Students and the "grownups" -- I think there is plenty of blame on both sides for it, but the bigger issue is that it has happened.
And Larry, in fairness, all the officer saw was me balancing a 30 foot long Maple bough. He didn't have to watch to see if I was taking it out of the road -- or putting it INTO the road, and in Amherst an officer might well have to verify that.
But why would I want someone else to get hurt? I could have gone around, but I cleared the road because it well might be someone I know who got hurt and I don't want that. But in Amherst, thinking as a student here, if some townie gets hurt, well?????
And since the cruiser went by you "a couple times" don't you think you were setting a bad example for other drivers, homeowners, students?
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