Aberdeen Residents Receive Community Support in Emergency Preparedness

Story by Anastasia Millicker, anastasia.millicker@patch.com

Preparation is the key to successfully weathering the next disaster that rolls through Aberdeen, township officials explained during the July 25 emergency preparedness meeting at the Matawan Aberdeen Middle School.

About 100 people attended the event to learn from representatives of local and national agencies about the best steps to take in the aftermath of a disaster like Sandy.

Mayor Fred Tagliarini emphasized that the common thread among all preparedness plans is communications. The township recently redesigned their website and created an office of public information to assist in branching the communication gap.

“We have also fined tuned our reverse 9-1-1 system,” he said.

Brittany Frederick, Aberdeen public information spokeswoman, recommended that all residents sign up with their home phone, cell phone and email for alerts from Code Red and Nixle.

Frederick also recommended that residents plug state and municipal services’ phone numbers into their phones including town hall (732-583-4200), the  Aberdeen Police Department (732-566-4877), JCP&L (1-888-544-4877), New Jersey American Water (1-800-652-6987), Monmouth County Health Department (732-431-7456), and Helmetta Animal Control (732-521-6016).

In the event of a disaster, Aberdeen Township has designated Town Hall, George Hausmann Senior Center, and Cliffwood Fire House as information, warming and charging stations.

“Listen to the instructions from your local officials,” Frederick said, encouraging residents to connect and post on the Township Facebook page for emergency updates.

Deputy Chief Richard Derechalio also emphasized the need to know alternative travel routes when driving in town, particularly ones that exclude Route 35.

“In Sandy, we obviously lost power, lost traffic lights, roads were flooded so traffic cones were put in place across 35,” said Deputy Chief Richard Derechalio. “Do not remove those cones. They are there for a reason.”

Another problem faced during Sandy was gasoline supply, but few solutions were found to remedy the situation except for fueling up before the storm.

“We had no gas for our police cars,” Derechalio said, explaining that officials were in the same situation as residents.

Frederick said if the situation does arise again, resident should post on the Township’s Facebook page about open gas stations and town officials would do the same.

Police Chief John Powers provided residents with an emergency checklist and instructions for the Register Ready, special needs registry, which allows to stay connected with their relatives with physical or cognitive limitations, languages barriers or lack of transportation during emergencies.

The most important part of the preparation is “putting your plan together with your family before the emergency”, Powers said.