Senator Michael Balboni released the findings of a recent hearing he hosted focusing on Long Island's level of preparedness for a major hurricane or other catastrophic event. The results show that neither Nassau nor Suffolk counties are doing enough to protect Long Islanders from a catastrophe, whether it's a hurricane, blizzard, disease outbreak or terrorist attack.

Balboni (R-East Williston) gave Nassau County a grade of F for overall preparedness and Suffolk County a D. New York City, with its well-coordinated plan and wide network of agreements for shelter, food, evacuation and communications, received a B+ on the report card. Nassau and Suffolk received their low grades for their dismal performance on the issues critical to disaster preparedness - communications, evacuation and sheltering.

Balboni is chair of the Senate's Committee on Homeland Security. The committee heard testimony from experts from the National Weather Service, Long Island Power Authority, and New York State, New York City and Long Island emergency management offices, as well as members of the fire department and American Red Cross representatives.

"I'm not here to point fingers, I'm here to present facts, and the fact is that Long Island is not prepared," said Balboni. "If we don't start taking this seriously, we will have failed to perform the most basic responsibility of government - to protect our citizens and their property. This report card will hopefully serve as a wake-up call that we must focus on preparedness ahead of the emergency. I am committed to working with the county agencies to bring the resources and coordination necessary to make us prepared."

Balboni noted that both Nassau and Suffolk counties lack a coordinated plan to evacuate and shelter the nearly three million people who live on Long Island. Although some emergency shelters have been identified, none currently have generators. Another area of concern is the condition of the emergency communication systems on Long Island, especially in Nassau County, which relies on the archaic FireCom command center. Testimony during the hearing revealed that FireCom lacks security and a sufficient ventilation system. There is also no backup communications system in place to operate when FireCom is down.

While not specifically addressed during the hearing, Balboni also recently learned that Nassau County is not offering any liability protection for private facilities which offer to act as a center for the distribution of drugs and pharmaceuticals (PODs) during an emergency.

Balboni praised Assemblyman Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst) who is hosting an emergency preparedness hearing today in Hauppauge for shining light on this important subject. "This is a bipartisan concern, it is not a political issue. I am presenting the findings of my hearing and I look forward to learning about the findings of the Assembly hearing in the near future. Working together, we can better prepare Long Island," said Balboni.

Recently, Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) held a public forum on evacuation plans for the communities of Atlantic Beach, Point Lookout and Long Beach. There was great concern about the lack of preparation for these barrier communities.

The findings of the Sept. 28 hurricane preparedness hearing will be incorporated into a report to be released by Senator Balboni in January.