Irene Helped Improve East Hanover's Communication

One year after Hurricane Irene swept the East Coast, East Hanover has upped its communication efforts that township officials say is key during events like this.

While East Hanover was among the numerous towns across North Jersey that had its roads flooded and homes damaged by what was downgraded to a tropical storm last summer when it hit New Jersey, township health officer Carlo DiLizia said it wasn't hit as hard as other nearby towns such as in Parisppany, Lincoln Park and Pequannock.

The storm cost the township about $150,000 in equipment use and manpower to aid in the several roads that were flooded, the 400 homes that needed to be pumped out, more than 300 homes that had minor damage, more than 80 that had major damage and from damage in several other areas such as playing fields.

After the storm, the township got all of the department heads together to see what they could do to improve if another situation like this happens again.

"We always try to reevaluate things to better the preparedness efforts," DiLizia said.

The officials found that communication is key in events like this, and it is something that can always be improved.

"When the power may go out, you need a primary or secondary means of communication," DiLizia said, "and once you have that you're able to allocate all of your resources."

Township officials implemented two new communication systems in the past year since the storm; a radio system for internal communication and a reverse 911 system for external communication.

The radio system the township purchased is for the department heads and schools to use. If power goes out, they can use the designated channels for another form of communication.

The other system is a residential and commercial notification system—Swiftreach Networks—that notifies residents and businesses of emergenices. Residents can choose to be a part of the reverse 911 system by sumbitting their phone numbers.

"We can utilize [the system] to notify colleagues that are home to come in to report to work, as well as notify sections of the municipality or the entire municipality of power outages," DiLizia said.

The township has also been running exercises throughout the year to practice scenarios for emergency situations like Hurricane Irene. These excercises, DiLizia said, is where the OEM workers and volunteers learn how to collaborate and communicate together.

With most of the damage now repaired, a year later Melanie Lane bridge off Ridgedale Avenue is still closed.

DiLizia said the area by the bridge, which is a "key artery" within the community, was greatly impacted by the storm and flooded.

DiLizia said officials have had the area assessed, and they have made it a priority to get it back open. Currently officials are evaluating at the funding and figuring out what needs to be done.

Most of the damage costs will be reimbursed from federal initiatives, and township officials are still waiting for payments from FEMA.