Otsego County Emergency Management Expects Strong Winds and Power Outages from Hurricane Sandy

The Otsego County Emergency Management office is ready and is coordinating its efforts to handle what Hurricane Sandy will bring to the region.

Emergency Service Coordinator Kevin Ritton has been holding meetings with local officials and the National Weather Service as updates continue to come in with how Sandy will affect Otsego County.

"Based on our latest briefings from The National Weather Service, and we will be having two more today, we're expecting later on today the heaviest winds to come through," Ritton said. "The winds will continue to build throughout the day. The heaviest winds will start early this evening and through the overnight hours. The winds are expected to diminish during the day Tuesday."

Ritton has also asked that people only utilize calling 911 in an event of an emergency only. Please do not call 911 for road closure information or directions because it will tie up the emergency dispatchers and emergency lines.

He added that the biggest threat will be power outages and wind, not the rain that devastated the region last year when Hurricane Irene struck.

"Each event is slightly different," Ritton said. "The Weather Service is advising that they just don't see the heavy rains we saw last year with Irene and Lee. The biggest threat right now from what we see and are being told from the forecasters are the heavy winds that will be coming in. The winds are going to be coming from a different direction. All the trees in our area are accustomed to the winds coming from the west, which is our normal weather direction. These are going to be very heavy winds coming from the east. We are at a greater risk of seeing a lot of trees coming town and taking with it a lot of lines and power utilities."