Hello, Irene: Locals Get Ready

With a big, long, powerful storm staring you down in the face, you gotta be ready.  Plan for an extended power outage, lots of water, and trees coming down.  With winds expected to gust to over 100 mph, you’ve got to batten down the hatches and prepare yourself.  

So what will you do?  

I filled my gas tank.

Went grocery shopping. 

Fed and watered the chickens.  

What else?

“My husband and son cleared off the back deck and put everything into the shed. He set the generator up so if we lose power, I can turn it on. We drained the pool about 12 inches to compensate for heavy rain to prevent it from flooding. All I can say, is thank goodness I married an Engineer!”, said Laura Falt of Cromwell.  

“I took the fabric and screening off my patio tent and tied down the tent frame”, said Alex Goldenberg of Middletown.  “Also filled my propane tank.  At least we’ll be able to grill if we end up without power for a while.” 

Carla Otfinoski suggests attending to your garden before the storm hits.  “I’m picking basil, parsley, peppers and tomatoes and thinking what yummy stovetop meal I can make on my gas stove. Got to find something to do tomorrow. When a storm hits, I say cook!”  She is one of the lucky ones in Middletown who have access to natural gas.

Jennine Goldenberg, mother to a 2- and a 3-year-old, recommended a road trip now.  “I’m getting in my car and taking the kids for a drive because we may end up house-bound for a couple of days."  She added, "I vacuumed the house today but I won’t do it again until after the storm is over.  It doesn’t make any sense trying to keep the house clean so long as I have a wet and muddy dog running around!”  

Gov. Dannel Malloy announced this morning that Connecticut residents should not plan on traveling on any state roads after sunset today.  “As of now, all residents should plan on completing travel by dark on Saturday. Take action now, do not wait until the middle of the storm. Prepare to stay off the roads Sunday and for a possible ban of all non-emergency vehicles.”  

His office reported that he is likely to issue a voluntary ban on travel on state roads due to the large number of trees coming down and flooding, although no specific state road closures are scheduled right now.  Officials are remembering that two fatalities occurred on the Merritt Parkway within the past year due to falling trees during a storm.  

“When sustained winds are at 50 mph we will pull all the trucks off the road and encourage all nonemergency vehicles to stay off the roads. Truckers can ride out the storm in the weigh stations or rest area parking lots”, stated Col. Danny Stebbins of the Connecticut State Police in Middletown.  “Empty and tandem trucks are particularly susceptible to roll over during high winds.”  

He added, “We expect transformers to come down and falling telephone poles, which happened during Hurricane Gloria.  If we can reduce the chance of injury for the public, our troopers and other emergency workers, that’s what we’ll do.  Better safe than sorry.”  

Tony Stagnitta of East Hartford concurs with the ban on roads. “I think the ban on non-emergency vehicles is important. This is no time to be lollygagging. The State Police and emergency crews need to have as little distractions as possible.”

The office of Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman is busy preparing for the storm.  Her office states she has been at the Emergency Operations Center all morning. “Now on a statewide conference call with almost 200 municipal officials providing them with the latest updates and answering questions.”, her office reported on Facebook. The State of Connecticut is providing the public with updates on the hurricane at www.ct.gov/irene.

The storm is expected to make landfall in Stamford as a Category 1 Hurricane at 11 a.m. on Sunday with the brunt of the storm is expected to begin between 10 p.m. and midnight tonight through noontime on Sunday tomorrow.  Hurricane-force winds are forecasted to begin at 7 a.m. on Sunday.  

The City of Middletown has opened Middletown High School off of Newfield Street as an emergency shelter for anyone in need of a safe place to ride out the storm.  Officials report if people need to evacuate they should be doing that now so they will be in a safe place before dark.  

Overall, folks seems to be taking Hurricane Irene in stride, planning to comply with road restrictions, and reaching out to others who may need additional support.  

“Opening up the house for the family and a friends of Dad’s as a mini shelter...should be interesting....., said always-to-be-counted-on Sandra Kiehm, who lives in a large house on high ground overlooking the mouth of the Connecticut river in Old Saybrook. 

“The rooms have been reserved, the tubs will be filled with water, lots of batteries, candles, games, power inverters tested (from my camping days), generator being fixed today, extra laptop batteries, food, beer, movies (on a laptop), popcorn..and prayers..bring it on!”  

Tracy Ford of Cheshire is prepared for anything. “So my candle supply was down, couldn't find anything of substance at the $ store, so I broke down and went to Pier One... good thing they had a 50-percent-off off summer sale. They smell good....new John Grisham book....ready....”  She added, “Some ice and my cell phone charged...bring it on!”

Shawn Lang of West Hartford offers this sage advice.  

“Water, bread, bee-yah, wine, chips and salsa!”  

There's still time...what are you doing to prepare for the storm? Share your tips.