INTERVIEW WITH JOE VIETRI, DIRECTOR OF US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS NATIONAL PLANNING CENTER OF EXPERTISE FOR STORM DAMAGE ON KATRINA ANNIVERSARY REGARDING HURRICANE RISKS TO NEW YORK AND FIRE ISLAND  

By Jeannie Lieberman

With the Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina upon us what is the risk to New York in general and Fire Island in specific?

"As I mentioned on previous occasions the threat to NY and vicinity is a very real one. A major Hurricane strking our area would radically transform the landscape and completely alter things as we know it."

What could the effects on Fire Island be and would the long awaited Reformulation plan provide protection.

"One need only look back at the effects of the 38 Hurricane and the Ash Wednesday storm in '62 to get a glimpse of what would be.  A slow moving Cat 3 or stronger storm making landfall someplace west of us would inundate most of the Island and for that matter most of the lower elevation portions of the South Shore. We all need to understand that the Reformulation Plan would not, I repeat, Would Not Provide Protection!  Whatever project comes out of the Reformulation Plan will reduce damages to some extent for those lower level storms that often hit our area such as the Dec, '92 Nor'easter."

Well, this leads to the obvious question of what is the status of the Reformulation and when can we expect to see something.

"On March 28, we had a meeting at the FI Wilderness Visitors Center including the Corps, led by Col Polo, National Parks, led by Bob McIntosh, and NYState, led by Mike Stankiewich (DEC) and Steve Ressler (DOS).  At the meeting, we made a point to state that our goal was to complete a draft report by next spring (April/May timeframe); and in order to meet this, would prepare a formulation document to identify the plans that would demonstrate economic viability.  We committed to meeting with NYS this summer to review all the plans and confirm NYS support; At that point we would then meet with landowners, including FIIS and Suffolk County to identify plans they could support.  The draft document would then incorporate the array of alternatives, with the goal of reaching a mutually acceptable plan or plans.

We will likely resume meetings with the participating agencies in the fall, perhaps even organizing a formal Inter-Agency Reformulation Group (IRG) meeting when the draft formulation package is completed. This of course will allow for a number of what I hope will be well-attended public workshops.

In Interim I have asked for a number of briefings to insure that the array of plans meet the overall Vision statement that the Corps and participating Agencies crafted some time ago".

Joseph Vietri
Chief Planning & Policy Division
NAD, US Army Corps of Engineers

Editor's note: The above raised more questions than it answered but attempts to be more specific and substantive were deflected due to the media onslaught on the Dept. on Katrina's Anniversary and generally evasive techniques .See earlier article on site for more information http://fireislandsun.com/army_corps_of_engineers.html