Town Taking 'Wait-and-See' Approach to Storm

In anticipation of Hurricane Irene’s likely impact on Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a Declaration of Emergency Thurday afternoon. 

In Ledyard, the attitude among town officials was more “wait and see.”

Asked Thursday about emergency shelters and possible evacuation routes, Emergency Management Director Sean McGuckin said it is too soon to make such calls.

“The only shelter location we have in town is the Ledyard High School,” McGuckin said in an email. “Because we are not in a low-lying area there is not a hurricane evacuation route for the town.”

Public Works Director Steve Masalin said the town has an evacuation plan for events at Millstone, but not for hurricanes. He said because the town is several miles inland, hurricane-force winds would weaken somewhat before reaching Ledyard.

Masalin said he cannot recall the town ever evacuating. “Where would you go?” he said. “In a hurricane, trees will be falling up north, too.”

Mayor Fred B. Allyn Jr. said he met with his department heads Thursday to discuss the town’s response to the storm. The town’s Emergency Response Team, which includes police, fire, ambulance, VNA, public works, and emergency management representatives, will meet Saturday morning, he said.

Otherwise, he said he expects residents to make reasonable preparations, use their heads and not take any unnecessary chances.

“It’s likely we will have some trees come down, and we’re looking at possibly 10 inches of rain,” he said. “Ten inches is a lot of rain – not to minimize it – but we can deal with that.”

Allyn ordered town employees to turn off their computers when they leave work on Friday. He said only one server – which handles police emails and communications – will be left on.

It has been 26 years since Hurricane Gloria brought considerable damage to the region. Forecasters are warning that Hurricane Irene could be the most destructive storm to hit New England since Gloria – possibly in a lifetime.

The storm is expected to arrive in the region on Sunday. 

McGuckin said the Red Cross staffs shelters and Ledyard has regional sheltering agreements in place. 

“Depending on the storm and issues, we may team with another town (frequently Groton) and share a shelter location. The benefit of this is that the Red Cross staffing doesn't get spread as thin since we are not opening a shelter for a handful of people in every town. 

“So on Saturday when we look at more reasonable estimates regarding what to expect from the storm we will make a sheltering decision and that may be to direct Ledyard residents to a shelter in another town if they do not wish to stay at home when the storm hits.”

At this point, he said, “there is no indication of a reason to open a shelter.”

But if a shelter is opened, he added, “the information will be provided to the state for transmission over the Emergency Alerting System as well as over the 2-1-1 phone contact system.  If it is truly drastic we can use the reverse 9-1-1 system as well to contact every resident.”