A personal plea

by Staff
Wednesday, September 4, 2013

On Oct. 29, Gary Szatkowski, the meteorological chief at the National Weather Service office in Mt. Holly, N.J., issued this personal plea to residents in his area:

  • If you are being asked to evacuate a coastal location by state and local officials, please do so.
  • If you are reluctant to evacuate, and you know someone who rode out the ‘62 storm on the barrier islands, ask them if they would do it again.
  • If you are still reluctant, think about your loved ones, think about the emergency responders who will be unable to reach you when you make the panicked phone call to be rescued, think about the rescue/recovery teams who will rescue you if you are injured or recover your remains if you do not survive.
  • Sandy is an extremely dangerous storm. There will be major property damage, injuries are probably unavoidable, but the goal is zero fatalities.
  • If you think the storm is over-hyped and exaggerated, please err on the side of caution. You can call me up on Friday (contact information is at the end of this briefing) and yell at me all you want.
  • I will listen to your concerns and comments, but I will tell you in advance, I will be very happy that you are alive & well, no matter how much you yell at me.

Thanks for listening.

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