HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Payloaders, snow plows and other heavy equipment owned by Long Island Contractors' Association (LICA) members are moving into pre-blizzard positions this morning in preparation of combating a weekend snow storm that LICA's designated meteorologists, WABC-TV Eyewitness News are predicting will create white out conditions, high winds that could bring down power lines, and as much as a foot of snow throughout central Long Island.

LICA executive director Marc Herbst said his members are also contacting the Nassau and Suffolk Offices of Emergency Preparedness to provide them with an inventory of equipment that is still available in the event the snow storm overwhelms municipal equipment.

Jim Pratt, President of LICA, and chief executive officer of Pratt Brothers, said a dozen pieces of equipment have already been loaded on "low beds" and will be directed to assist communities in Garden City and Oyster Bay as well as ensuring that institutions such as Nassau Community College can quickly recover from the snow storm.

"It takes seasoned, well trained crews to operate heavy equipment in white out conditions," stated Pratt. "Municipal highway departments have men and women who have endured years of that kind of weather and there is a cadre of people among LICA members who also wear that experience as a badge of honor. All of them will be behind the wheels of big rigs within the next 48 hours."

LICA's members' commitment to support the efforts of municipalities and crucial institutions such as colleges, hospitals and centers of commerce reflects their ability to assist government agencies tasked with responding to all sorts of emergencies including hurricanes and nor-easters. LICA represents the interests of over a hundred of Long Island's premier heavy construction general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and industry supporters. Focused primarily in the transportation infrastructure construction industry, such as highways, bridges, sewers and other public works, LICA's member companies play a significant role in the economic vitality of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

We will fight the blizzard with what is on Long Island

"There is no question that with Long Island's limited access to bridges and tunnels, we will recover from this blizzard only with the equipment we have on hand," continued Pratt. "That means LICA, and its member companies, will be on the front lines with emergency first responders pushing aside any wind driven wreckage that downs power lines and helping move the snow so that life can be brought back to normal."

LICA has also activated a 24/7 response hot line that will allow municipalities to reach them if their own manpower is overwhelmed by the expected blizzard. "In that way we can determine if we can relocate assets to assist those municipalities, as no one really knows how hard or for how long this pending blizzard will hammer the region," concluded Herbst.

www.licanys.org

SOURCE Long Island Contractors' Association (LICA)

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