Malverne Braces for Hurricane Irene

As Hurricane Irene barrels up the east coast toward Long Island, Malverne residents are getting ready for the big storm.

Some including Liz and Rich Lind spent Friday moving lawn furniture into the garage and reinforcing windows with tape. Others joined the throngs of Long Islanders at local supermarkets to stock up on water, food and other essentials to help them weather the storm.

“We do not anticipate to evacuate Malverne,” William Ward, coordinator of the Malverne Emergency Management Team told Patch Friday. The team has been in constant contact with the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management.

As of now Nassau County has issued a of residents living south of Sunrise Highway from the Queens-Nassau border to Rockville Centre and south of Merrick Road from Rockville Centre to the Nassau-Suffolk border.

Echoing the message of County Executive Ed Mangano, Ward is asking residents who may know someone in the evacuation area to invite them to stay at their home instead of at one of the roughly two dozen the County has opened.

The Village Emergency Management Team has been actively getting the word out to residents. Through the reserve 911 system, Malverne residents received an automated phone call from Mayor Patricia Norris-McDonald about what to expect during the hurricane. The village has also been running a hurricane preparedness PSA on Malverne TV.

According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Irene is expected to be a Category 1 storm when it makes landfall in Long Island.

Ward explained that residents should expect the highest winds on Sunday between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., while the eye of the storm is expected to pass around 11 a.m. to noon.

After 2 p.m. the winds and rains should start to diminish.

“Our major concern is about the heavy rainfalls, high winds, down trees and possible power outages,” Ward said.

He stressed that he is confident that Malverne will not have to evacuate the area.

The members of Malverne's Emergency Management Team will also be going around the village this weekend following the Irene's impact to assess any damage she may have caused.

If residents want to report a fire, Ward said they should contact 516-742-3300, and for police emergencies, only call 911.

In the event that Malverne does lose power, residents are advised to listen to 1620 AM on a battery-operated radio to get storm updates.

“Now is the time to do not wait until it is too late” stated Ward.