Town Monitoring Storm's Advance Hourly

Oyster Bay authorities are monitoring "by the hour" the progress of Hurricane Sandy, the monster tropical storm now bearing down on the Eastern Seaboard.

Preparations are underway throughout the town, particularly at the Department of Public Works in Syosset, to alert workers to the potential emergency and provide communications to residents in the event of an evacuation, if necessary.

"We are monitoring it on an hour-to-hour basis," said Kurt Ludwig, a spokesman for the Town of Oyster Bay. "The Supervisor (John Venditto) is a big hands-on guy and he will want first-hand information from his team all weekend long."

Information about the storm is on the town's website here. It will be updated throughout the weekend.

Sandy, nicknamed "Frankenstorm" for its Halloween-week arrival, is continuing on its northeasterly course. Recent weather models have predicted landfall in the Northeast to be anywhere from the Carolinas to New England.

The town is working directly with the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management and LIPA. Several conference calls have already taken place and more are planned as the storm approaches, Ludwig said. Town crews are on call and prepared to cut down trees and clear emergency hazards, Ludwig said.

The Syosset DPW complex, just off the Long Island Expressway and South Oyster Bay Road, is used as the nerve center during an emergency. It allows the town to directly communicate with its highway and sanitation crews and dispatch them directly to where they are needed, Ludwig said.

Emergency information would also be disseminated to news outlets during that time, and be coordinated with Nassau County and other emergency departments.