MESSAGE FROM CONGRESSMAN STENY H. HOYER

As Hurricane Sandy approaches our region, we must take the appropriate safety precautions to keep everyone safe. At the request of Governor O’Malley and the Maryland delegation, President Obama has signed a State of Emergency for Maryland, and I am working closely with the Governor and local officials to monitor the storm. Today, I visited Emergency Command Centers in Prince George’s, Charles, and Calvert Counties, and spoke on a conference call with Governor O’Malley and local officials. We are all working to ensure that Marylanders have the most up-to-date information and resources that they need.

I encourage all residents to stay inside and off the roads for the next 36 hours and to follow all safety precautions and evacuation orders, if given. The Office of Personnel Management has announced the federal government will be closed tomorrow, October 30 and Governor O'Malley has announced the state government will be closed tomorrow. The status at NAS Patuxent River is "essential personnel only" tomorrow. Early voting in Maryland will also be closed.

A voluntary evacuation is in place for low-lying areas in St. Mary’s County. Other areas in Maryland also have voluntary and mandatory evacuations in place.

The following VOLUNTARY evacuations are currently in place:

• St. Mary’s: low-lying areas
• Smith Island
• Crisfield
• Somerset County: low-lying areas
• Ocean City: island wide
• Wicomico: all low lying areas around Nanticoke
• Talbot: low lying areas
• City of Annapolis: low-lying
• Queen Anne’s: low-lying

The following MANDATORY evacuations are currently in place:

• Ocean City – 17th Street South and known flood prone areas
• Worcester – All waterfront properties in the county. This includes all properties in the West Ocean City area, the communities of Cape Isle of Wight, Mystic Harbour, Snug Harbor, The Landings and Assateague Point. Also included in this are South Point, anything east of the parkway in Ocean Pines and all other waterfront properties throughout Worcester County.

Shelters are open throughout the Fifth District. If you are planning on relocating to a shelter, please bring any toiletries and medications in quantities sufficient for several days. Many of the shelters accept pets, but please bring their food, water, and medications.

• St. Mary's County: Shelters are located at Great Mills and Leonardtown High Schools. Pets are accepted, and Animal Control staff will relocate them to the county fairgrounds where they will be housed for the duration of the storm.
• Calvert County: A shelter is located at Huntingtown High School. Pets in carriers are accepted, and will be kept in the field house of the high school. 
• Charles County: A shelter is located at the Department of Community Services building in Port Tobacco. Pets in carriers are accepted.
• Prince George's County: Shelters are located at Charles H. Flowers High School, Gwynn Park High School, and Ritchie Coliseum at the University of Maryland, College Park.
• Anne Arundel County: A shelter is located at Annapolis High School. Pets are accepted.

Many residents could experience power outages during the storm. I also visited SMECO today for a briefing on their preparedness.  They have assembled more than 533 field workers to be available to respond to outages throughout the storm.  If you do experience an outage, contact information for our local utility companies is below:

• SMECO: 1-877-74-SMECO (1-877-747-6326)
• Pepco: 1-877-PEPCO -62 (1-877-737-2662)
• BG&E: 1-877-778-2222

Thank you for allowing me to share this update with you. For more information on safety precautions to take, please click here. I also encourage you to follow @MDMEMA on Twitter for updates.

With warmest regards, I am

Sincerely yours,

Steny H. Hoyer

Related Links:

Hoyer Visits Fifth District Emergency Command Centers, SMECO

Hoyer, Maryland Congressional Delegation Praises President Obama For Signing Pre-Disaster Declaration for Maryland