Residents in Low-lying Areas Asked to Evacuate as Irene Approaches [Update]

[Update 2:25 p.m.]

In a 1:45 p.m. update, First Selectman Peter Tesei informed that Hurricane Irene is now expected to make landfall in Greenwich at about 7 a.m. Sunday — a few hours earlier than had been previously forecast. Tropical storm force winds are expected to begin at around 11 p.m. tonight, Saturday, August 27.

Heavy rain has already begun to fall in recurring waves as the outer bands of the storm are now reaching Connecticut. The storm is forecast to drop 8 to 10 inches on rain on the area, causing widespread flooding. In addition, because the strom's arrival is coresponding with a high tide, tidal surge of 4 to 6 feet are expected, resulting in major flooding of low-lying areas.

Tesei said he participated in a statewide conference call at 11 a.m.  for all municipal CEOs, service chiefs, public works directors and
emergency management directors to get an update on the forecast and to review hurricane preparedness activities.
 
All residents in low-lying coastal areas are urged to evacuate.

"If you have received an evacuation order, please evacuate prior to 7 p.m. Saturday, August 27," the release states. "Waiting longer than that to make the decision to evacuate will place you in progressively greater danger."
 
In addition to Patch, residents can get storm infromation from the Town’s website (www.greenwichct.org); the American Red Cross website (www.redcross.org); and the federal government disaster preparenedness (www.ready.gov) website.

Residents can also get information from local news radio and TV stations including WGCH 1490 AM, WLNK 1350 AM and Cablevision Channel 12) number.

For all non-emergency questions or concerns, call 203 622 7700.

[Update 1:15 p.m.]

Although Hurricane Irene appears to be weakening — it broke up upon making landfall in the Carolinas and is currently classified as a Category 1 hurricane — First Selectman Peter Tesei confirmed at 1 p.m. that the town's evacuation order for all residents in low-lying areas remains in effect.

Irene is still packing wind gusts of more than 90 miles per hour and is expected to make landfall in Greenwich around 10 a.m. Sunday.

Residents are urged to review the FEMA flood zone "SLOSH" map the town has distributed to determine if their street is located within the “Category 3” flood zone. If your home is located in this zone, you may be asked to vacate your home.

When asked how compliance with the evacuation order is going, Tesei said "in general people have been compliant — I haven't heard anything to the effect otherwise."

Tesei said the main concern continues to be the 4-5 foot tide surge that Irene will bring. He said more than 10,000 sand bags have been distributed by volunteers at three of the town's fire departments, Cos Cob, Glenville and Sound Beach. Some volunteers he said, stayed as late as 11 p.m. last night filling sand bags for residents. At one point the fire departments ran out of sand bags but Tesei said more have been ordered "and they may already be there now."

Greenwich Patch will have additional updates later this afternoon and through the storm.

[Original story:]

Greenwich town officials are urging residents in all low-lying areas along the coast — altogether about 10 percent of the town’s population — to evacuate their homes as approaches, and Greenwich Police say they will be checking homes to make sure residents in those areas really do evacuate.

The storm is expected to make landfall in Greenwich at around 10 a.m. Sunday, with rain and wind starting around 12 noon Saturday. Forecasters are predicting it will bring 90 mile an hour winds and tidal surges of 4 to 5 feet, in addition to dropping as much as 10 inches of rain on the area.

“In light of the directive from the State of Connecticut, and the storm tracking models, we are calling for an evacuation of all low-lying areas in Greenwich beginning tomorrow morning, August 27,” First Selectman Peter Tesei said during a special meeting of the town’s emergency responders held at 4 p.m. at Town Hall. “This means residents [in low-lying areas] should make plans to vacate their residences and seek shelter on higher ground. That means making provisions with friends and family, or other places of lodging.”

In the event residents who must evacuate from low-lying areas cannot find alternative lodging, the , located at 449 Pemberwick Road, starting at 10 a.m. The shelter will be equipped with cots, food supplies and water, but is not pet friendly.

Residents are urged to review the FEMA flood zone "SLOSH" map the town has distributed to determine if their street is located within the “Category 3” flood zone. The town said distribution of the map among residents is critical to spreading the word about the evacuations, which, according to Tesei, can be made mandatory by decree of , but cannot be enforced on a mandatory basis by the town.

Greenwich Police Chief David Ridberg said officers will be going door-to-door in low-lying areas to request residents to move to higher ground.

“As the first selectman said, we will be going around to the low-lying areas, knocking on doors, and instructing people as to what they should do, in the event the hurricane force winds might be so great that first responders might not be able to respond,” he said. “We urge anyone who is in a low-lying area to self-evacuate now, and if necessary, go to the town shelter.”

With regard to pets, Chief Ridberg said the police department can help: “The animal control division of police department can take your animal — we’ll be staffed there tomorrow — and there are also local veterinarians who can make arrangements your animal,” he said.

Health Director Caroline Calderone Baisley and Greenwich Red Cross Vice-Chair of Readiness & Response Mary Jones said their two agencies will jointly operate the shelter at Western Greenwich Civic Center. In addition, the Board of Education has agreed to open as an auxiliary shelter if needed. It will also be run by the two agencies. In addition Baisley said the two agencies have been working to identify other facilities in town which can be used as backup shelters, however they won’t be releasing information on those until Saturday.

Tesei emphasized that the town is serious about the evacuations: “It is strongly advised — and it’s certainly not novel — that you vacate your premises by sunset Saturday evening, ahead of the tropical force winds. We know all too well here in Greenwich what flying debris looks like — we went through the March 2010 storms and we had quite a bit of devastation. Those winds were up to 60 miles per hour — now we’re expecting winds in excess of that. So please secure your property today and make your plan to relocate from those low lying areas. If you flooded before with just regular heavy rains… you will be flooding again, but at a much higher magnitude. So get ahead of it.”

The map the town is distributing shows four shaded areas depicting the degree of flooding that will be caused by a Category 1, 2, 3 or 4 hurricane. Tesei said as a precaution the town will be evacuating residents in the shaded area corresponding with a Category 3 storm. Greg Sullivan, the town's GIS coordinator, said the shaded area represents about 3,000 homes in Greenwich — or about 8 to 10 percent of the town’s population, which is about 6,000 residents.

“Governor Malloy characterized this storm as the most serious weather event to impact our state since the 1938 hurricane,” Tesei said. “He pointed out that our state wasn’t as urbanized then as it is now. So we have to think about what the potential impact can be today: Winds of up to 90 miles per hour, 7 to 9 inches of rain, storm surge expected in the range of 4 to 5 feet corresponding with Sunday’s high tide. The bottom line is we’re going to get a whole heck of a lot of rain in a very short amount of time, and it’s only going to exacerbate the situation.”

Tesei also urged residents in low-lying areas to move their cars and other vehicles to higher ground. He said the town has lifted all parking restrictions so that people are free to find alternative places to park their cars.

Fire Marshal Joe Benoit said the fire department has also increased staffing for the weekend. “All of the equipment has been checked and is ready to answer all alarms,” he said. He added that the fire department will also be assisting the police in notifying the residents in the low-lying areas regarding evacuation.

Joe Soto, GEMS, said his department has also been staffing up. “We’re going to be bringing everybody in tomorrow afternoon and we’re keeping them on through Monday,” he said. “We’re going to order additional supplies to get us through the next 48 hours and also keeping staff overnight at different stations.” Sotto said GEMS has also put into place a mutual aid arrangement with Stamford EMS.

In addition Tesei announced that:

--Steps have been taken to secure the town’s wastewater treatment plant and to have the state assist with any cleanup that might be needed.

--Steps have been made with state for storm debris pick up.

--The Greenwich beaches will be closed as of tomorrow (“because as much fun it is to go watch a storm at the beach, I’ve done it, it is dangerous, and we will be limiting access to protect people from being swept out to sea”).

--Sand bags are available at the Glenville, Cos Cob, and Sound Beach fire stations.

--TAG (Transportation Association of Greenwich) has volunteered to assist the town in transporting people to shelters if needed.

In addition, Dan Warzoah, emergency management director, informed that FEMA officials are already in Connecticut and that the utilities already have line and tree crews in the area to handle power outages. He warned residents that the major roads in the state including I-95 and the Merritt Parkway, as well as , “will all be coming to a close at some point tomorrow.”

The two designated town shelters will hold a total of 500 people, however Tesei pointed out that residents have had plenty of time to prepare for the storm and that most have already figured out alternative places to stay.

Tesei said the town already made use of its reverse 911 system to send an alert to all residents at 7:45 p.m. Thursday. He said the town will likely use the system again as the storm approaches.

Tesei also urged residents seeking information about the storm or town services to visit the town’s website, or for general information, call Town Hall at 203-622-7700 or the town’s non-emergency assistance number, 203-622-8003.

*Editor's note: this story has updated to correct the name of Police Chief David Ridberg.