Montgomery County Preps for Weekend Weather

As Hurricane Irene makes its way up the coast, officials from Montgomry County are asking residents to prepair for flooding and power outages in the coming days.

“The ground is saturated from significant amounts of rain that have already fallen in the region recently and Hurricane Irene is expected to drop seven inches or more throughout Saturday and Sunday,” John Corcoran, the county’s director of communications said in a release. “In addition to the flooding, sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts of up to 60 mph, are forecast, which could result in significant damage to property and widespread power outages.”

The county’s public safety department in increasing its staffing at the county’s emergency call center in response to the storm. Residents are asked only to call 9-1-1 if they require police, fire or EMS services. Power outages can be reported to PECO.

The county also released the following tips in a statement on Friday:

• Carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the biggest sources of injury or death following a major storm due to the use of gasoline powered generators and other tools, such as power washers, that are not properly ventilated. Also, do not use charcoal grills indoors.
• Do not drive during the storm unless absolutely necessary. If you do drive, watch for debris, downed trees and limbs and utility lines, which could be live. If you encounter a flooded roadway, do not attempt to drive through it.
• Please sign up to receive emergency text messages at https://montco.alertpa.org/. This is your personal connection to real-time updates, instructions on where to go, what to do, or what not to do, who to contact and other important information.