Suffolk County Evacuations Ordered: Places to be Evacuated

Officials in Suffolk County, N.Y. have mandated evacuations in vulnerable areas of Brookhaven as Hurricane Irene sweeps towards Long Island.

The evacuations are set to begin at 8 a.m. EDT on Saturday morning and will affect about 70,000 residents who live in low-lying areas. Town Supervisor Mark Lesko declared a state of emergency in the town. While Lesko noted that the town was opening emergency shelters, he cautioned that you don't want to end up staying in one of them.

Places to be evacuated are: Blue Point, south of Montauk Highway; Patchogue, south of Main Street, East Patchogue south of Main Street, east to the intersection of South Country Road and south of South Country Road; Bellport, south of South Country Road; Brookhaven, south of South Country Road; Shirley, south of Golden Gate Road at the intersection of Neighborhood Road, south all the way to Smithtown Park; the entire village of Mastic Beach; Moriches, south of Main Street; Center Moriches, south of Main Street; Cedar Beach Peninsula in Mt. Sinai; East Moriches, south of East Moriches Boulevard, including the Newport Beach community.

Suffolk County Residents: Be Prepared For Evacution Orders

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy warned residents to be prepared for a fresh wave of evacuation orders on Saturday, which would occur on a town by town basis as officials determined which areas were at risk. He urged people to begin packing and making preparations for alternate places to stay.

The reason we are announcing that now, is that we want to get people psychologically ready to move out tomorrow, Levy said.

Officials also announced that shelters will be open starting Saturday at: Riverhead High School, Robert Frost Middle School in Deer Park, Brentwood High School, Long Wood Senior High School in Brookhaven, Eastport South Manor Junior and Senior High School, East Hampton High School, Walt Whitman High School in Huntington, North Babylon High School, Hamptons Bay High School, Sachem East High School and Riverhead Middle School.