Orange County, New York Executive Edward A. Diana has extended the state of emergency to Tuesday, October 30, closing the following facilities: all public schools, all private schools, SUNY Orange campuses in Middletown and Newburgh, county buildings, county parks and recreational facilities, and courts. Non-essential county employees are advised to "not report to work after 7:00 a.m.," including County DMV offices.
Shelters are available in the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, the Emergency Housing Group, and the Port Jervis Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School. Pets are accepted in these shelters, but must be in cages for the duration of their stay.
A Port Jervis Reception Center has been opened at the Port Jervis Middle School for "residents to keep warm and to receive information on the storm, with the ability to also provide transportation to a shelter if necessary."
The County's site suggests that residents call 2-1-1 for information about their nearest shelter, or 1-888-769-7243 for information about Hurricane Sandy.
As of 5:00 p.m., the National Hurricane Center reports that Sandy was "moving quickly toward Southern New Jersey and Delaware" with "landfall expected early this evening accompanied by life-threatening storm surge and hurricane force winds. The Hurricane was moving West Northwest at 28 mph with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90 mph.
There are currently no coastal tropical cyclone warnings in effect, but high-wind warnings are in effect for East Coast states.
"I think the public needs to prepare for the fact that this is going to take a long time for us to clean up. The good news is we will clean up and we will get through this," said President Barack Obama in a public statement.
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