Hurricane season preparations are underway at Ridgefield’s Emergency Operations Center. Health Director Ed Briggs and Community Emergency Response Team members Dee Aarons and Sander Pool are inventorying shelter supplies this week at the Emergency Operations Center. Briggs is the town’s mass care/shelter director, Aarons is the leader of the EOC logistics group, and Pool is leader of the EOC communications group. Preparedness checklists may be found on ridgefieldct.org and ready.gov. Residents are encouraged to sign up to receive emergency notifications through the Connecticut Alert System.
—Dick Aarons photo
Ridgefield stands ready for hurricane season, with an emergency shelter suitable for 250 people prepared at the Ridgefield Recreation Center on Danbury Road, and more than 100 volunteers trained to do their part.
The emergency operations center itself is set up at the Yanity gym off Prospect Street.
“The shelter sets up as we need it. We do a quick conversion at the community center for the shelter,” said Dick Aarons, deputy director of emergency management, and manager of the emergency operations center. “We have people signed up to work at the shelter in the event of an emergency. We have got about 100 people on a call list.”
The 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season began Monday, June 1. It continues through Nov. 30, with the main threat period for Connecticut coming mid-August to mid-October.
Gov. Dannel Malloy urged the public to prepare for the hurricane season by making a kit of tools they need, such as having bottled drinking water available, and a plan for how to cope if power goes out for extended periods.
In Ridgefield, power was out a week at a time in the last several serious storms.
“Now is the time to become familiar with the potential risks your community and neighborhood may face, such as storm surge, flooding, road or bridge closures,” said Dora B. Schriro, Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commission, in a statement. “If a storm is approaching your area, carefully monitor weather reports and follow all of the instructions provided by public safety officials.”
Radio broadcasts inform when a storm is near and when it is advisable to get to a shelter. In Ridgefield, the capacity for sheltering people has not been reached in any recent storm. Typically 35 people have spent the night when weather is at its worst, Aarons said.
However, the number who stop by the shelter during the morning hours is much greater. “We have 1,200 coming through for showers, coffee, or to charge their cell phones and get online,” Aarons said.
People could better prepare by buying a car charger for their cell phone, he said.
The state provided a checklist of necessities to prepare for a hurricane:
• One gallon of drinking water per person, per day, for at least three days. Add one gallon per each large animal at home.
• A three-day supply of non-perishable food, and have a manual can opener ready.
• A battery-powered or hand cranked radio and a weather band radio with extra batteries for both.
• A first aid kit.
• A whistle to signal for help.
• Wrench and pliers handy to turn off utilities.
• Local maps.
• Solar charger, inverter or car charger for cell phones.
To this list, Aarons adds you should stockpile at least a week’s supply of medications, in the event stores or roads are closed.
Aarons also adds that portable generators shouldn’t be in the garage or too close to a house because deadly carbon monoxide gas will build up.
Aarons also adds that you should assume downed lines are live.
Have generators connected to home electrical systems by a licensed electrician, he added.
Try texting if cell phone calls cannot get through. Texting can often work with a less reliable signal.
Choose an out-of-town emergency contact to leave important information with in the event communications are lost in your local area. Share this contact with family members and check in at the hub for important messages.
Have cash on hand, said First Selectman Rudy Marconi. If power is out and banks are closed, ATM machines will also be down and nobody will be able to get cash.
That’s something at least a few people forgot in the last several severe storms, Hurricane Irene in August 2011, Snowtober of October 2011 and Hurricane Sandy of October 2012.
Sandy did the most damage, Marconi said. Trees and power lines took a beating.
All three resulted in power outages of a week or more for many residents. People in poor health who were dependent on electrically powered health and nursing equipment were most at risk.
The shelter provided for them.
“You need to pay attention because it’s upon us,” Marconi said of the hurricane season. “I always ask people to be prepared, to set aside canned food and drinking water, and to have medical supplies and some cash available.”
One of the good things about hurricanes, if such a thing is possible, is that they are predictable. The town usually knows in advance whether emergency shelter will be needed, Aarons said.
“Four days before the storm is scheduled to reach us, Rudy Marconi and Fire Chief Kevin Tappe, Police Chief John Roche and I participate in briefings with the National Weather Service,” Aarons said.
They make a judgment on whether the storm will hit the community. Then they meet with what is now Frontier, the telephone and Internet company, and coordinate on the location of crews and trucks.
Volunteers are then put to work. They are trained in areas of specialty including emergency communications, sheltering, and food supplies. They meet on short notice.
“Should we need to activate the center depends on the damage we have,” Aarons said.
There is a core group of 15 volunteers. The Community Emergency Response Team assists at the emergency management center, in communications, damage assessment, and sheltering of humans and animals.
For more information on hurricane preparedness go to the web at ct.gov/hurricane
You may subscribe to alert services on the web at ct.gov/ctalert.
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