So here we are on the East Coast, bracing for Sandy, the hybrid Frankenstorm that is expected to wreak havoc for miles and miles and miles. Security Director News offices in Southern Maine will be closing early today and all day tomorrow as a precaution—we are on the coast—although the brunt of this storm is not expected to be as bad here as south of us.
I called the Port of Authority of New York and New Jersey this morning on the off chance I could get some info for a news story on security preparations as well as about its new chief security officer, Joseph Dunne, and, of course, was told, politely, to basically take a hike. The poor guy who answered the phone in the press office told me to call back, at earliest, on Wednesday. I refrained from making further calls to other facilities so as not to disrupt emergency preparations.
The NY/NJ Port Authority has closed its maritime facilities until further notice. New York area airports were open, but no one was going anywhere: Airlines have suspended flights until further notice. Stock markets were shuttered and Wall Street banks, including Goldman Sachs Group and Citigroup, activated emergency plans put in place after Sept. 11. The entire New York mass transit system was shut down Sunday night. About 8.5 million commuters use the system daily, according to Reuters.
State emergency management systems in the path of the storm are on high alert.
Federal offices in the Washington, D.C., area as well as mass transit systems there are closed, too.
Let’s hope, if needed, all the emergency preparations pay off. I’d like to hear your stories around Sandy and security, so please let me know. Email me at acanfield@securitydirectornews.com or comment below. Be safe!
