COVID-19 Crisis

Rhinebeck Village urges residents, businesses and visitors to wear masks and practice social distancing. Visit Dutchess County’s COVID-19 webpage and dashboard.

Police

If you’re experiencing an emergency, call 911. If you’re looking for general information about the Rhinebeck Village Police Department, visit their webpage. Via that webpage, you can also access alternatives for support during a crisis, as well as non-emergency resources for social services.

Fire

If you’re experiencing an emergency, call 911. If you’re looking for general information about the Rhinebeck Fire Department, please visit their webpage.

• FEMA’s Fire safety resources

• Wildfire preparedness resources from FEMA

In the event of:

Heat Emergency

Village Hall serves as a cooling center in heat emergencies.

Drought

• Explore Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County’s resources

Drinking Water Contamination/Oil spill on the Hudson River

Rhinebeck Village is part of the Hudson 7, an inter-municipal consortium of communities that draw their drinking water from the Hudson River. The group is advocating for better protections against contamination, as well as disaster preparedness training.

Our municipal water department maintains testing that is overseen by the Department of Health. If there is drinking water contamination, the protocols in place require letters to be mailed to water customers as well as additional public notifications and updates until the issue is resolved.

Flood and other storm-related emergency

Rhinebeck Village is right in the middle of the Landsman Kill watershed, and in our urban environment with our paved surfaces, our old man-made Crystal Lake with its Asher Dam, we do see flooding. Especially now with climate change, we are experiencing increasingly severe and frequent weather events. As a community and local government, we need to use policies and techniques that reduce the impact of flooding. Consider these green infrastructure and nature-based approaches:

• Use riparian plantings to reduce erosion along waterways and soak up flood waters

• Reduce paved surfaces, and instead consider permeable pavement or non-paved surfaces where appropriate

• Use street trees to cool the hot summer urban environment

• Use trees, rain gardens and bio-retention areas to naturally-treat stormwater runoff, especially in flood-prone areas

• Plant a bio-diverse mix of primarily native species that can withstand the extremes of weather and the spread of invasive species—both exacerbated by climate change

  Resources:

• Emergency Supply Checklist

  Spanish version

• Sign up for the State’s NY-Alert program

• Floodplain information for property owners, businesses, insurance agents, real estate agents, and lenders:
  Visit FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center

• Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response’s Be Prepared webpage, full of great storm-preparedness tips for residents and businesses

• Dutchess County DER’s webpage that provides information on what to include in an at-home emergency kit, emergency supplies, and evacuation kit

• For homeowners who want to protect their homes from flood, check out FEMA’s 6 Step Guide

• For pet-owners, prepare and make a plan for your pet too! Check out ASPCA’s 6 steps plan as well.

• Hurricane preparedness

• Winter storm preparedness

• For Village property owners where there’s a stream or wetland, you play an important role with your stewardship of these important lands. You can use nature-based solutions to minimize the impacts of flooding. Rather than mowing right up to the water’s edge, plant a “riparian buffer”. This means using plants that soak up excess water, such as willow. Find out more on Climate Smart Rhinebeck’s webpage on resiliency. In particular, check out reports from our collaboration with Marist College.

Rhinebeck’s Hazard Mitigation Planning through Dutchess County

In 2016, the Village of Rhinebeck, along with all other municipalities in Dutchess County, took part in a county-led process to do hazard mitigation planning. Learn more about this process and read the Rhinebeck Village document.