Western Greenwich Civic Center to Serve as Shelter During Irene

As Hurricane Irene approaches, the Town of Greenwich has designated the as an emergency shelter effective 10 a.m., Saturday, August 27.

“This is likely to be a major storm event,” town officials said in a release today. “The latest forecast predicts that Irene could make landfall in Connecticut in the Stamford area as a Category 1 hurricane around 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 28. There may be sustained winds of 90 miles per hour with gusts up to 110 miles per hour. In addition to the wind, rainfall is predicted to be 10 to 15 inches during this storm event.”

According to the release, town officials “participated in a statewide conference call at 12 noon today for all municipal CEOs, Service Chiefs, Public Works Directors and Emergency Management Directors. The purpose of the call is to update the forecast for Hurricane Irene and to review critical hurricane preparedness activities.”

Residents in flood prone areas may be asked to evacuate their homes. The town is advising residents to study the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Sea, Lake and Overland Surge from Hurricane (SLOSH) map, to see if their home is in a flood prone area. With a new moon on Sunday, forecasters are saying tidal flooding could be significant.

Homeowners who have previously experienced flooding conditions on their property are advised to move valuables and other items that can be water damaged out of their basements and garages to higher locations.

Residents are encouraged to visit the Town’s website, the American Red Cross website, and the federal government emergency preparedness website for advice on how to prepare. Residents are also advised to listen to local news radio and TV stations including WGCH 1490 AM, WLNK 1350 AM and Cablevision Channel 12 for up to date information.

It is recommended that residents have portable radios with fresh batteries ready so that they can listen to local news stations, as it is likely that there will be power outages resulting in loss of broadband Internet communications. Further, residents should charge their cell phones and other mobile devices before the storm hits, since cellular networks will likely remain operable in most areas.

Today’s release is in addition to a brochure that the town distributed yesterday detailing precautions residents should take.

There is a wealth of “real time” tracking tools and other online resources that residents can use to track the storm as it approaches. The following links were provided by Esri, a software development and services company providing Geographic Information System (GIS) software and geodatabase management applications:

Esri’s Public Information map (disaster map) has been updated to include Irene

http://www.esri.com/services/disaster-response/hurricanes/latest-news-map.htmlhttp://www.esri.com/services/disaster-response/hurricanes/latest-news-map.html

GIS Support Resources (live weather feeds, data, etc.) are listed here:

http://www.esri.com/services/disaster-response/hurricanes/resources.htmlhttp://www.esri.com/services/disaster-response/hurricanes/resources.html

In addition a new ArcGIS Online Group has been created to collect and share content:

http://www.arcgis.com/home/group.html?owner=disaster_response&title=Hurricane Irene Disaster Responsehttp://www.arcgis.com/home/group.html?owner=disaster_response&title=Hurricane%20Irene%20Disaster%20Response