O’Malley Update on Hurricane Sandy

Governor Martin O’Malley held a second press conference today at the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to provide an update on Hurricane Sandy as the storm approaches the area. The press conference was live streamed here: http://www.governor.maryland.gov/stream.asp

Senator Ben Cardin announced that the State of Maryland has a Presidential Declaration of Disaster enabling the state to get Federal resources including FEMA, NORTHCOM, Health and Human Services, and the National Weather Service. The following states will be providing support to Maryland: Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina, Indiana, and Kansas.

Governor O’Malley announced the following:

State Government is closed tomorrow, except for essential personnel.

Early Voting will be extended by one day to include Friday, November 2nd to compensate for closing tomorrow, October 29th.

Governor O’Malley encourages all citizens to stay off the roads tomorrow. He said, “We need to keep the roads clear for emergency services. People should not be on the road tomorrow.”

The waves in Ocean City will be on a par with Hurricane Gloria.

The following public transportation will be closed tomorrow:
WMATA – Washington Metro
Baltimore Light Rail
Baltimore Subway
MARC Train
Port of Baltimore

List of shelters opened or opening will be online by 8pm tonight.

450 National Guard have been deployed across the state. Their primary mission is to back up the local county emergency response.

For hurricane preparedness tips and precautions, visit the MEMA web site: http://mema.maryland.gov/Pages/homeEmergency_hurricane.aspx.

For Twitter updates, follow @MDMEMA and use hashtag #MDSandy to join the discussion.

For a hurricane storm surge predictions map, click here: http://mema.maryland.gov/prepared/Pages/Floods.aspx.

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