Update: Attleboro City Officials Roll Out Plan for Impact from Irene

Mayor Kevin Dumas led a meeting with city officials Friday afternoon including Attleboro Emergency Management Director Scott Lachance to devise a plan for the impending Hurricane Irene.

The City of Attleboro, through the Mayor’s Office, has issued the following information: 

Shelter in Place

• This is the best option whenever possible. The safest place for most people is inside their own homes.
• Residents are urged to have a few days' supply of food and water.
• People should stay in their homes unless it is unsafe. 

Regional Shelter

• A Regional Shelter will be open at approximately 5 p.m. on Saturday at The shelter will be staffed by the American Red Cross. The shelter will be staffed by a Medical Reserve Corps (physicians, nurses and auxiliary staff). The shelter is pet-friendly, as SMART (State of Massachusetts Animal Response Team) will coordinate animal-related issues. Food and other supplies will be available at the shelter.

A regional shelter is part of a bigger plan than just providing shelter for Attleboro resident, according to Lachance. "If Attleboro is fortunate and we do not sustain significant damage, the shelter will be used for less fortunate people in other areas of Massachusetts that receive extensive damage," he said. "Regionalizing these types of facilities provides tremendous security for our community and also provides a valuable resource for other areas.

"The purpose of medical personnel in a regional shelter is to help minimize the potential surge of patients in local hospitals," Lachance added. "These types of sheltering arrangements have been developed following incidents (such as Hurricaine Katrina) that resulted in identified problems that have hopefully corrected. By utilizing lessons learned from incidents in other jurisdictions, we can improve our ability to meet the needs of our community in a timely fashion."

What to Bring? 

Persons needing shelter are asked to bring a change of clothing, bathing and sanitary supplies, prescriptions and other medical needs, denture and eye care materials, special dietary supplies or requirements and baby food and diapers if required.

Notification

• Unless conditions are worse than predicted, evacuations will be voluntary. 
• Information will be available on Comcast Channel 15 and at www.cityofattleboro.us
• In the event of mandatory evacuations or extreme conditions, citizens will be contacted by Reverse 911 telephone calls.
• For further information, please call 508-223-2222 after 6 a.m. on Sunday, August 28.

Closings

Due to the predicted storm, the city will be closing the Compost Center,, Park and Recreational facilities on Sunday, Aug. 28. Rubbish and recycling collection for Monday pick-up will remain the same, however, do not place your rubbish and recycling for curbside collection prior to 7 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 29.