Mandatory Evacuation Of Roosevelt Island Community If Another Hurricane Sandy Comes Again Says NYC Office Of Emergency Management During Community Forum Last Night

Image of Hurricane Sandy Wave Pounding Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Park From Adib Mansour

As reported earlier this week:

Thanks to the efforts of City Council member, Jessica Lappin, On Tuesday August 27, Office of Emergency Management will be holding a meeting on Roosevelt Island to tell us about our new evacuation zone. It appears that Roosevelt Island is now split between two evacuation zones. The new zones have more refinement in determining which zones to evacuate during any given emergency. On August 27, we will learn more about this. Meeting will take place from 6:30 to 7:45 at the Manhattan Park Theater Club....

As reported last June:

... The new NYC Hurricane Evacuation maps place Roosevelt Island in separate zones.

NEW: We updated our evacuation maps based on post-Sandy data. Know your zone: http://t.co/vCoW3HkwTA
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) June 18, 2013

All of Roosevelt Island had previously been in the same evacuation zone but the updated NYC hurricane evacuation plan has Roosevelt Island in two separate zones. Coler Hospital and the Octagon Building are in Zone 2 and the rest of Roosevelt Island is in Zone 3.

Click here for the NYC Hurricane Evacuation Map.

Image of Hurricane Sandy Flooding Roosevelt Island West Promenade From Brian Dorfmann

Here's what happened during the  NYC Office Of Emergency Management (OEM) Roosevelt Island Hurricane Evacuation presentation. It began with introductory remarks from Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President Ellen Polivy. Ms. Polivy told the assembled group that RIRA's role:

... is to bring issues to light and get them fixed...

Ms. Polivy then introduced new interim Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Department Director Jack McManus  who spoke about his previous NYPD experience in emergency planning and management



followed by OEM's Deputy Commissioner of External Affairs Christina Farrell and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Rachel Sulaymanov speaking about the new hurricane evacuation zones. Ms Farrell noted that:

...if Sandy comes again ... there would have been a mandatory evacuation of the entire Roosevelt Island community...

OEM's Ms Farrell and Ms.Sulaymanov then took questions from the community.



During the Q and A session, PSD Director Jack McManus said that the current Roosevelt Island evacuation plan is terribly outdated and that it is currently being updated. When the Roosevelt Island evacuation plan is completed, it will be made available to the public promised Mr. McManus.



The current Roosevelt Island evacuation plan had been kept secret.

More information on NYC Hurricane Preparedness and Evacuation available at the OEM web site.