Northampton County gears up for storm

 In advance of the storm, Emergency Services is ramping up plans to activate its Emergency Operations Center – which is kind of Disaster Central for coordinating the response to potential emergencies.

  Angel Gillette, the county’s hazard mitigation and disaster recovery manager, said staff were going through the agency checklist, making sure emergency generators for key sites such as transmitters and hospitals are ready in case of a power outage.

 The agency planned a conference call today with area hospitals to discuss preparation and have been in touch with the of the Greater Lehigh Valley, which would help with any evacuations.

 Key responders have been placed on standby.

  “The concern right now is flash flooding and that can be risky,” she said.

Municipalities can report problems to the county agency, which will be coordinating efforts with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.  

 County residents or those outside the county can sign up for emergency alerts online by going to NotifyNC.org, Gillette said.

 It’s free and allows people to receive alerts through e-mail, texting or other communication in case of a neighborhood evacuation, road closures or other emergencies.  

 To prepare for the storm, residents are advised to lay in a supply of food, jugs of water, flashlights with batteries, medication, manual can opener, battery-powered radio and anything else they might need during a long power outage or other disaster.

 “We ask residents to plan for 72 hours or longer to be able to sustain themselves without assistance,” Gillette said.

For a good checklist of necessary items, go to www.readypa.org

   In 2004, 2005 and 2006, heavy rains caused flooding that washed out roads, soaked homes and closed businesses along the banks of the Delaware River in places such as Easton.

  In June, an agreement took effect that requires New York City to keep its reservoirs in the Catskills below capacity to catch some of the heavy rains before they flow into the Delaware River, according to a Morning Call story.

 That might help curb some of the flooding should this weekend’s storm do its worst.