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As Earl Steers Clear of N.J., Emergency Services Remain Vigilant

Weather services predict Hurricane Earl will not make landfall in New Jersey, but state and local emergency agencies nevertheless prepare for disaster.

Hurricane Earl has apparently wheeled away from its collision course with the mid-Atlantic coast. But government agencies and emergency services are still battening-down the hatches and preparing for the worst.

New Jersey State upped its state emergency level from two to three, and banned swimming in Island Beach State Park. Likewise, the Scotch Plains and Fanwood fire and police departments said they are preparing for a catastrophe, even though they don't anticipate the storm hitting the area, which is about ten to twelve miles inland.

"We're prepared, but we're not going to extremes because it's not going to be affecting mainland," said Paul Malool, director of the Scotch Plains Office of Emergency Management which coordinates and assists fire, police and rescue squads in disasters.

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Malool, who is also an emergency manager for Veterans Affairs and worked for FEMA in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit, also added, "I personally think we're going to get some rain and wind, but I don't think it will be that bad. It looks like it will be more of the coastal area than us."

Still, a National Weather Service tropical storm remains in effect for Union, Hudson and Essex counties. Monmouth, Ocean Atlantic and Cape May Counties and half of Burlington County are under a tropical storm warning.

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Scotch Plains Rescue Squad Captain Dan Sullivan said that although the storm will probably skip over the township, he is concerned about flooding similar to 1999, when Hurricane Floyd swirled through the state as a tropical storm, killing six people.

"They built housing developments on top of places where water used to drain," he said. "They dried up the ponds and built houses. So those might be at risk."

Sullivan mentioned that the rescue squad is equipped with extra generators and rescue boats, though they have never had to be used since they were bought in 1973.

The Tri-County Red Cross, which has been coordinating with various federal, state and local agencies over the past week, said they have about 500 blankets on hand and 200 meals ready to eat should disaster strike. They also have thirty trained disaster relief volunteers on standby.

"It doesn't look like its going to impact our area, so we're not proactively setting up any shelters, but we're preparing anyway," Michael Prasad, the emergency services director of the Tri-County Red Cross, said.

Similarly, Scotch Plains Fire Department Captain Brian Mecca said that while department operations remain business as usual, "We're like boy scouts: we're always prepared."

Union County officials from the office of Emergency Management, meanwhile, are assembling a "strike team" of EMS workers from rescue squads to help with neighboring counties if they are in distress and need extra manpower. 

Fanwood Rescue Squad president Tom Kranz noted that it would be unusual for his EMS workers to go outside the county. "But in case of a catastrophic event…" His voice trailed off.

As he explained, "They always prepare for the worst case scenario and when it doesn't happen, we say 'great'."

Detective Lt. Eugene Chin of the Fanwood Police Department, who remembers when wind gusts from Hurricane Floyd took out power lines on in his 11 years ago, said the police department will continue to monitor the weather on Doppler radar.

"We're just keeping a close eye on the radar to see where the storm is going to hit," he said.

Meanwhile, the New Jersey State Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has recommended that New Jersey residents sign-up for a free, confidential text messaging system that sends weather updates and other alerts. To sign up or for more information, visit njalert.gov. The OEM also urged citizens to "Get a Kit, Make a Plan, and Stay Informed."

"We recommend that everyone be vigilant, stay informed, and if you do hear anything from officials, please heed their call," Nicholas Morici, a spokesperson for the NJ OEM, said in a phone interview.

He added that the state would continue its 24-hour emergency operation "until we learn that Earl is no longer Earl."

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