Thursday morning, Sloatsburg Mayor Carl Wright and company took a countywide conference call from Orange & Rockland for a briefing on possible rapid response storm actions. By Friday afternoon, Wright reported that everything was already mostly in place for Nemo. “We’re prepared before the storm even comes,” Wright said, looking out his office window as big flakes of snow floated past — the first wave arriving of whatever was to come.

O&R conferenced municipalities and agencies Thursday afternoon, briefing them on the utility’s planned emergency response measures related to the big winter storm. O&R also beefed up its rapid response emergency crews, bringing in an additional 200 out-of-state-workers to help with potential storm cleanup. O&R has used the Sloatsburg Department of Public Works property as a temporary base of operations for its field contractor, Lewis Tree Service, this past season. And Lewis trucks were already rumbling around the village as early as mid-morning Friday.

By 5 p.m. Fiday afternoon, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency but stressed that the MTA would remain operational. “This is a severe winter storm, but it is not Sandy,” Gov. Cuomo said. “We’ve been through worse—it’s all relative at the end of the day.”

Sandy struck the New York region hard and fast, flooding homes and businesses and catching many by surprise. Nemo has been slow and steady and all parties appeared plenty prepared for whatever would come.

Depending on reports, snowfall across the Lower Hudson Valley accumulated up to six inches by Friday evening, wind gusts of up to 35 m.p.h. and blizzard conditions predicted to last through late Friday night, and dropping at least another foot of snow by Saturday sunrise.

“During the conference call,” Mayor Wright said, “O&R estimated that 20-50,000 of their customers would be without power. We hope that that number is too high.”

Mike DeMartino and his crews at the Sloatsburg Department of Public Works were loading trucks with salt and sand early Friday. By noon, every available DPW truck was geared up with its own plow as well. DeMartino, who is the longtime supervisor of the SDPW, said that he and his crew will be “out there until it’s all over.”

Gesturing toward the big bay where the village stores its supply of sand and salt, DeMartino said “we ordered a hundred tons and we got nearly a hundred tons delivered yesterday — the balance of it will be delivered Monday. That doesn’t mean we use a 100 tons a storm. We have more than that in stock.”

There’s an art to salting and sanding the road, Wright said earlier, especially with an unpredictable storm like Nemo — salt the roads too soon and rain will just wash the roads clean. DeMartino said most of the work would now involve plowing roads, with interment salting with a salt and sand mixture.

“I hope we’re not here all weekend,” DeMartino said, looking around the the drizzling snow. “Our work is based on their forecasts. I’m glad the temperatures are dropping. I don’t like freezing rain.”

“We’ll be here until we’re done,” he said. “I would much rather be home. We do what we have to do to get the roads clear.”

By sundown the familiar rumble of DPW plows could be heard making their way through the village. And by nightfall, a quiet mist enveloped Sloatsburg, already caked in a heavy, icy snow. With temperatures dropping and icicles forming along wet gutters and eaves, a chill breeze picked up, continuing the rain of sugary snow across quiet lawns and lighted houses.

The only sounds that could be heard were the infrequent far-away sounds of roaming ATVs in the surrounding hills and the ocassional song of wind chimes caught in a sudden breeze.