North Adams, Pittsfield Getting Ready for Irene
 Mayor Richard Alcombright, left, Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco, Lt. David Sacco and other emergency officials explain their response plan for the Hurricane Irene. |
Irene, the biggest hurricane to affect the Northeast since Gloria in 1985, is expected to hit the region on Sunday afternoon and into Monday morning, bringing upward of 5 to 10 inches of rain and winds of up to 60 mph.
"We may have a fairly serious storm coming here this weekend and as a community we wanted to be prepared and we wanted to be ready to react any of things that might be coming as a result of that storm," said Mayor Richard Alcombright at press conference on Thursday afternoon at City Hall.
The North Adams Motorama, which was expected to bring in more than 200 motor vehicles to the downtown, and a benefit concert at Joe Wolfe Field for the Minerva Arts Center have been postponed. In Pittsfield, the Pittsfield Colonials have already canceled their game for Sunday at flood-prone Wahconah Park.
City officials are most concerned with flooding and wind damage — downed trees and wires in particular.
"I'm guessing we can expect at least 6 inches [of rain]; in the past, we've had difficulty handling 4 inches of rain in some of our lower-lying areas, mainly River Street, Beaver Street, so the residents of those areas concern us," said Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco, who joined the mayor with Police Lt. David Sacco, Fire Director Stephen Meranti, Public Services Commissioner Timothy Lescarbeau, Health Inspector Manuel Serrano and Tourism Director Veronica Bosley. "The West End of town is the most prone to wind damage."
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The department will prioritize calls and Department of Public Services crews will be on call. Lescarbeau said the reservoirs have been lowered by a foot in anticipation of rain.
People use 911 for emergencies only to ensure the lines are clear and those who need to can get through. Information will be posted on the city's website, on NBCTV Channel 22 and WNAW 1230-AM. iBerkshires will also be providing news alerts and updates through its website, Facebook and twitterfeed.
"What we're recommending is people shelter in place," said Meranti; he and Serrano stressed that downed wires should not be approached and that generators should be run outside.
This is the first time emergency officials have met with counterparts from the hospital, the school department and North Adams Ambulance to plan for an actual event, said Morocco. However, the city has dealt "on the fly" with emergencies in the past, including the evacuation of part of Beaver Street in 2005 for flooding when remnants of Tropical Storm Tammy pounded the state with heavy rain.
Emergency response officials are keeping in communication with surrounding mutual aid communities including Adams, Williamstown and Clarksburg.
Emergency personnel in Pittsfield will be coordinating their storm preparation during an afternoon meeting on Friday, according to Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Robert Czerwinski.
Flooding is expected to be the biggest threat and the police and fire department will be identifying shelter locations, prioritizing call responses and ensuring there are enough crews on call to respond to an expected high number of emergency calls.
"We're still sitting on the edge of our seats," Czerwinski, who has been keeping an eye on storm reports, said. "We're going to have to alter our plans accordingly. We're prepared to call in extra crews."
Irene is bearing down on the coast of North Carolina with landfall expected Saturday morning with winds of 115 mph. The hurricane is expected to track northward over the weekend.
During a press conference call Thursday morning with reporters, National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read said the storm could be at the lower end of Category 2 strength when it hits southern New Jersey.
"At a very minimum, we're going to get 5 to 10 inches of rain and a wide swath of winds that are blowing in tropical storm gusts to hurricane force even in inland," said Read of the storm's likely impact on the already rain-saturated southern New England region. "You're going to get a lot of tree fall out of that, and you're going to get a long flooding out of that, it's almost a given.
"Flooding and power outages and damage caused by trees is going to be the big story as the storm moves inland over the Northeast."
Western Massachusetts Electric Co. is preparing by suspending time off for employees and engaging contract crews to ensure enough manpower to deal with any outages. Customers who are dependent on life support have been notified by WMECo's medical alert system and municipalities served by WMECo were expected to be contacted by the emergency notification system by mid-afternoon Thursday.
"Taking steps now, ahead of the anticipated storm, is the key to an efficient response," said Peter J. Clarke, WMECo president and chief operating officer. "Our defensive approach enables a systematic, timely and safe restoration should we need to repair our system following severe weather."
New Jersey has declared a state of emergency; New York City is considering evacuations of low-lying areas, including Queens and Brooklyn.
Hurricane Gloria was a Category 4 storm that caused some $900 million in damage along the East Coast but petered out somewhat by the time she reached the Berkshires.
"Several storms in the '50s, Carol and Edna, followed the path not unlike what we're looking at here," said Read. "If we maintain the size and strength, there was one called the Great Atlantic Hurricane in 1944 that brought a tremendous amount of wave action and beach damage going up through New Jersey."
In any case, the potential for flooding and high winds far inland are a real danger, they said and Fugate urged residents to listen to local officials and media to stay informed. He strongly urged people to follow evacuation procedures.
"If you live in an evacuation zone, your plans should be to evacuate if the order comes, and if you return home and your home is fine, count your blessings," he said.
Morocco said North Berkshire residents should "make believe it's a snowstorm.
"We do not want to create panic. We just want people to know we are prepared and we have already dealt with what we expect to come to some degree."
Alcombright agreed, saying the forecast could always change. "We just don't know ... the message here is we do have a plan and we're ready to help people. ... we are ready."
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