Absecon's Fall Curbside Leaf Collection begins November 6th and runs through December 29th.  Place loose leaves only, no branches or other debris please.

Absecon Community Affairs & The Absecon Police Department present Hotel Transylvania in Heritage Park on Friday, October 13th at 6:30PM. Refreshments available by Community Affairs, Meet some of your friendly Absecon Police Officers. Bring your own chair or blanket. Come dressed up in your favorite Halloween costumes!

Test Messages Will be Sent to All TVs, Radios and Cell Phones

FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) this fall.

The national test will consist of two portions, testing WEA and EAS capabilities. Both tests are scheduled to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 4.

The WEA portion of the test will be directed to all consumer cell phones. This will be the third nationwide test, but the second test to all cellular devices. The test message will display in either English or in Spanish, depending on the language settings of the wireless handset.

The EAS portion of the test will be sent to radios and televisions. This will be the seventh nationwide EAS test.

FEMA and the FCC are coordinating with EAS participants, wireless providers, emergency managers and other stakeholders in preparation for this national test to minimize confusion and to maximize the public safety value of the test.

The purpose of the October 4 test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level. In case the October 4 test is postponed due to widespread severe weather or other significant events, the back-up testing date is October 11.

The WEA portion of the test will be initiated using FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), a centralized internet-based system administered by FEMA that enables authorities to send authenticated emergency messages to the public through multiple communications networks. The WEA test will be administered via a code sent to cell phones.

This year the EAS message will be disseminated as a Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) message via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System-Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN).

All wireless phones should receive the message only once. The following can be expected from the nationwide WEA test:

• Beginning at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET, cell towers will broadcast the test for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, WEA-compatible wireless phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA, should be capable of receiving the test message.
• For consumers, the message that appears on their phones will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
• Phones with the main menu set to Spanish will display: “ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita acción.”

WEA alerts are created and sent by authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial government agencies through IPAWS to participating wireless providers, which deliver the alerts to compatible handsets in geo-targeted areas. To help ensure that these alerts are accessible to the entire public, including people with disabilities, the alerts are accompanied by a unique tone and vibration.

Important information about the EAS test:

• The EAS portion of the test is scheduled to last approximately one minute and will be conducted with the participation of radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers and wireline video providers.
• The test message will be similar to the regular monthly EAS test messages with which the public is familiar. It will state: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.

Potential….access into Absecon may only be from the west and north as a result of tidal flooding Saturday.

The roads in Absecon will be flooding on Saturday afternoon for several hours. South Shore Rd., south of the White Horse Pike as early as 12 noon and lasting several hours past the point of high tide (3:15-3:30 pm) to 5 or 6 pm.

New Rd. North of Holy Spirit will also flood around the same time given the incoming tide ushered in by the strong east wind and exacerbated by heavy rainfall.

Due to the heavy rain coincident with the incoming tide, Mill Rd.  approaching the dam  may also have flooding.

As for the White Horse Pike, a combination of the heavy rains; incoming tide and winds from the east gusting up to 50 mph, one lane westbound may be impassable as white caps push debris onto the shoulder and one lane.

The time frame for the above early afternoon into mid/late afternoon Saturday.

High wind advisories/warnings are up for the area. Winds gusting in excess of 50 mph at times causing spotty power outages and perhaps small trees/wires down.

Rains will be wind blown and accumulating rapidly on the more vulnerable low spots.

I would anticipate some cars being stranded by the rains and also trying to drive through flood waters.

Below are web sites to check the local conditions:

• National Hurricane Center

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/323e0017/5Q2-SSqbtkabC0Ds-mJCdg?u=https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/                                                                                         

• National Weather Service, Mt. Holly, NJ

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/61a1270c/uTOG_-xph02eT5y2mmC02A?u=https://www.weather.gov/phi/                                                                                             

• USGS Weather Sites - scroll down to your location in Atlantic Coastal Basin section

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/d0a68ae0/tneFsrveDk6CA7e3zUBRBwu=https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nj/nwis/current/?type=weather%3Bgroup_key=basin_cd             

• USGS Tide Sites - scroll down to find your location

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/c76463b7/klCmpHAcMEGbXtcWHRxVng?u=https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nj/nwis/current/?type=tide%3Bgroup_key=basin_cd                    

• Zoom into your location and click

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/3d46a6fd/c0eMqJHJakuT9G0-nP1LEQ?u=https://www.weather.gov/forecastpoints                                                                           

• Storm Prediction Center

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/029576e4/z8icKsjBxUaBnNs9IaK6WA?u=https://www.spc.noaa.gov/    

• Excessive Rainfall site

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/f437b032/K24mnkzL90Oc21Y60siCMw?u=https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/ero.php?opt=curr%26day=1                                 

• Satellite section - click on our location

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/c87bbdc4/4TuM8QijGkSlcpjsKFmWpw?u=https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/index.php                                                          

• Click on tide location for height - read thresholds minor-moderate-major

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/424162cc/BDjCQxzXtEmusz5bGCBTzg?u=https://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=phi