UPDATE: Village Deputy Mayor Declares State of Emergency, Town Hall Closes Due to Winter Blast

A State of Emergency has been declared in East Hampton Village, while the snow is expected to fall in certain areas until the afternoon.

Deputy Mayor Barbara Borsack said she made the declaration shortly after she decided to close for the day due to the snow storm. "I just got in from a ride-around with the highway department and village hall is definitely closed today. Some places are real white-out conditions with the wind picking up," she said.

The governmental declaration, she said, allows cars to be towed and state money could be available for clean-up, if necessary.

No word yet on whether East Hampton Town will follow suit. However, was closed for the day.

Captain Mike Sarlo said that as of 9:30 a.m., "It seems like most people are staying off the roads. Right now we're calm," Sarlo said. "It did rain and sleet a lot last night so there is an icy layer under the snow, which we're worried about. The more people stay off the roads, the quiker it's going to let the highway department get them cleaned up and passable."

Sarlo added that "It is very windy, in some areas it seems like a little bit of a whiteout, which is dangerous." With regards to erosion issues, particularly in Montauk, which were exasberated in the post-Christmas storm, Sarlo said the police were monitoring them. "High tide isn't until 3 I think. Nothing is jumping out at us right now."

He said Supervisor Bill Wilkinson and Captain Ed Ecker were assessing the conditions further.

The was opened on Tuesday night at 9, according to Police Captain Mike Tracey, in anticipation of the storm, which began shortly thereafter. A call center, it handles all non-emergency 911 calls within the village, such as power outages and answers questions about shelters if and when they were opened.

The EOC will be open for the duration of the storm and can be reached by dialing 631-324-0945

announced its closure on its Facebook page at 7 a.m., as did the office of .

Meanwhile, the sent out an email mid-day telling fitness buffs that it had been trying to open, but because the lot still had not been plowed they were going to remain closed all day.

The , which regularly doesn't open until 11 a.m., reported on its answering machine that it would be closed in the event of a major snow storm. However, some first-hand reports from Montauk were that it rained, then hailed, and was followed by what was at first snow that was wet enough to melt the snow already on the ground in Montauk. Conditions aren't apparently as bad as hamlet east.

Correction: In an earlier version of the story, it said that according to Captain Mike Sarlo the town was considering a snow emergency. However, the emergency was not an official declaration.

Have a closure or a cancellation to announce? Email Taylor.Vecsey@patch.com. We'll be updating this story throughout the day.