Irene has the potential to be a very serious storm in our area. Mayor Bloomberg has ordered a mandatory evacuation of Evacuation Zone A (including Coney Island and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn, Far Rockaway and Broad Channel in Queens, South Beach, Midland Beach, and other low-lying areas on Staten Island, and Battery Park City in Manhattan) and all of the Rockaways. Nassau/Suffolk areas south of Sunrise Highway have similar vulnerabilities.

Kudos to the Far Rockaways/Five Towns areas, led by the CERT, Achiezer, the JCC’s and Hatzalah. They are doing an AMAZING job. Our prayers are with all who are in the crosshairs of the worst of the storm.

NYC OEM is working with the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center and report the following for planning purposes only:

1. Storm track. The storm track is changing and moving west, putting the metropolitan area into the track of Hurricane Irene. They now predict a strong Category I or a weak Category II hurricane, with the eye of the storm achieving landfall along the Queens/Nassau County border (this can change again). Winds of 75-94 mph (with higher gusts) are likely. Forecasters expect a Hurricane Watch to be issued in the next 12-24 hours. If the predictions are correct, there will be 6-12″ of rain (on already saturated ground) and a storm surge of 6-12 feet —  this will be the strongest storm to strike NYC since 1893.
2. Evacuation. New York City has not yet decided whether to order a general evacuation, but the possibility is on the table. If NYC orders an evacuation it will be for evacuation zones A & B. Find your evacuation zone by following these links: NYC, Nassau (including evacuation routes), Suffolk and Westchester.
3. Zero Hour. Forecasters predict that winds will exceed 39 mph between midnight and 3 AM Sunday morning. When they do, public transportation and emergency services will cease operations (the exact time and protocols are currently being discussed). Trying to evacuate after Zero Hour will be dangerous.
4. Messaging. The media is getting the word out already. We advise that you use your networks to publicize the information on our blog here and to prepare to “hunker down” with plenty of food, water and supplies or to evacuate, if ordered.

Get more information to secure your Jewish institution at www.jcrcny.org/security.

Download:

• On iTunes (Apple)
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You’re shopping at the mall with your children when one of them suddenly disappears. A quick search of the nearby area is unsuccessful. What do you do? 

Now there’s a free new tool from the FBI that can help. Our just launched Child ID app—the first mobile application created by the FBI—provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about your children so that it’s literally right at hand if you need it. You can show the pictures and provide physical identifiers such as height and weight to security or police officers on the spot. Using a special tab on the app, you can also quickly and easily e-mail the information to authorities with a few clicks. 

The app also includes tips on keeping children safe as well as specific guidance on what to do in those first few crucial hours after a child goes missing.

Share the word about this app with family and friends, especially during upcoming activities in your communities to raise awareness on crime and drug prevention. 

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/august/child_080511/child_080511

Thanks to the Sgt. Jerry Ioveno of the NYPD for the following:

Be very careful with this application. It stores all of your children’s information on your phone. If your phone gets stolen or it is lost others will have all your child’s information and there is no lock on the application to secure it from criminals.
Use the pertinent parts of the application. No addresses, only emergency contact numbers. No personal info except for height, weight, eye color, hair color.

 
Children are naturally trusting, especially with adults. It’s difficult for parents to teach children to balance this trust with caution.  Today, children need to learn how to react to dangerous situations using common sense to keep them safe.  They should be reinforced in a gentle manner and be provided with effective rules to avoid some tough situations. This will build the self confidence they need to handle emergencies.

It is important to realize that when developing personal safety skills in your child, they must be taught as you would teach other subjects.

• Tell – the basic rules.
• Show – how to do/say the rules you are teaching.
• Practice – how your child should react and what they should say.

Keep open communication with your children.  Listen to their feelings and fears about people and places with which they feel uncomfortable.  Help them to learn to trust their instincts.

Bottom line: We don’t know when the formal application period will commence, but the submission period is likely to be shorter than in previous years. Download last year’s Investment Justification document and get started now. The changes in the Investment Justification should be minimal, if any. 

Update from Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).

Votes Today: First the House and then the Senate are expected to take up the full year spending bill (HR 1473) today.  There is a closed rule in the House, limiting the vote to up or down without amendments.  60 votes will be necessary to pass it in the Senate.

The measure provides $1.055 trillion in discretionary funding for FY 2011, $39.9 billion less than in FY 2010.  The total includes $12 billion in cuts already agreed to in three other continuing resolutions, and represents the largest annual reduction in U.S. history. 

For Homeland Security Programs: Overall funding of $41.8 billion (2% below FY2010 levels), represents the first annual spending reduction in the department’s history.  The President’s request did not seek funding for NSGP.  While the overall allocation for the UASI program was $725 million (down from $887 million in FY2010), we were able to secure full/flat funding of $19 million for NSGP.

The suspect in the Santa Monica bombing was arrested yesterday. The backstory is interesting:

1. He arrived in Cleveland and went to an Orthodox synagogue, asked to see the rabbi. His story was compelling . . .he was traveling to NYC for treatment at Sloan-Kettering and needed a meal and a place to stay. 
2. Most of the synagogue members do not watch TV or view the internet, so the suspect was not immediately recognized by the rabbi or other members. Complicating matters, the suspect knew that his picture was published and he had trimmed his beard. Fortunately, one of the members had seen the picture on a Jewish news blog. Although the member wasn’t positive that the individual was indeed the suspect, the member eventually called the appropriate law enforcement officials.

Lessons learned:

1. Get information. Jewish institutions should be receiving regular notifications and alerts from their local law enforcement officials and other sources. This is especially true in communities that don’t usually monitor the media. Someone should be sharing such information with others in the congregation.
2. Give tzedakah, but use common sense. Many of us have been suspicious of “schnorers”. Jewish tradition encourages us to be generous and we should be. At the same time, we should give in an appropriate fashion.
• Don’t offer home hospitality or hospitality in a synagogue unless someone comes with a verifiable reference (e.g., rabbi to rabbi) — and you verify it! In this case the suspect could not offer a reference, so the rabbi arranged for a room in a local motel.
• Don’t give anyone your credit card number (I know that this sounds obvious but people have been burned). 
3. If it “Just doesn’t look right” it probably isn’t. People can and do make up convincing stories. Look for verifiable details and double check items that can be confirmed.

JCRC and its law enforcement partners try to convey the latest and best information possible. The explosion outside the Chabad synagogue in Santa Monica demonstrates the difficulty of disseminating information in real time makes us think about “lessons learned.”

1. Problem. Initial reports are often sketchy and sometimes wrong. What should I do? Lesson learned: JCRC will continue its policy to disseminate the best information possible to Jewish organizations after verifying media reports with official confirmation. Organizations are also urged to subscribe to their local police and/or emergency management notification lists. 
2. Problem. It’s difficult to act on sketchy information. Lesson learned: It’s best to act out of an abundance of caution until more information is received. Have a plan in place. Upon hearing a report about a possible attack on a Jewish target it’s best to ramp up security precautions and vigilance. You can always return to normal levels when there is an all clear.
3. Problem. Should I worry about the security of my institution when there is a minor incident 3,000 miles away? Lesson learned: Any single event may be the first of a planned series (think 9/11) or signal a copycat to try something somewhere else. Operating out of an abundance of caution is warranted. 
4. Problem. The Santa Monica incident does not seem to be anti-Semitic. Should we rest easy? Lesson Learned. Most violent incidents involve disgruntled employees, alienated students, domestic disputes and the like. Jewish organizations are not immune and attacks for any of these reasons have the potential of being just as deadly as a terrorist attack. Fortunately, the strategies used to counter and respond to all such situations are remarkably similar.
5. Problem. This is all so overwhelming where do you start? Lesson learned. Find suggestions at: https://jcrcny2022.wpengine.com/library/security-emergency.html. 

From NYPD Shield:

Local authorities are stating that the explosion that occurred near a synagogue in Santa Monica, California, was caused by a utility line.