Ko Lyn Cheang photo
New Haven residents should make immediate preparations to keep themselves and their families safe during the incoming Tropical Storm Isaias, Mayor Justin Elicker, Director of Emergency Operations Rick Fontana, and other city officials advised during a press conference Monday afternoon.
Tropical Storm Isaias is moving into Georgia. Weather forecasts predict it will become a Category 1 hurricane as it moves into the Carolinas tonight. The storm is moving toward the western side rather than the coast of Connecticut.
City officials are anticipating that the storm will impact the New Haven area Tuesday afternoon with the most intense winds and rains between 3 and 9 p.m. The storm will be accompanied by between two to four inches of rain and 60 mile-per-hour winds in New Haven, city officials predict, and last for less than 16 hours.
Director of Emergency Operations Rick Fontana.
“Now is the time to prepare,” said Fontana. While he does not expect Isaias to be as severe as Hurricane Sandy, the city is preparing that this will be a significant tropical storm.
“It could be very dangerous. Our message to people is to take this seriously, follow our steps.”
He highlighted three important steps that individuals and their families should take to get ready.
First, have an emergency evacuation plan. In the event that people need to evacuate their homes, he advised them to contact family and friends who do not live in the path of the storm, find a hotel, or as a last resort, go to an emergency shelter provided by the city.
Second, prepare a kit with flashlights containing new batteries, an extended cellphone charger, insurance papers, face masks, and medicine. Third, sign up for alerts from weather services and check the city’s website for updates on the storm situation.
Individuals are asked to move any outdoor lawn furniture, gas grills and propane tanks indoors to prevent them from flying around when the winds hit.
Sixty mile-per-hour winds are strong enough to uproot trees and bring branches down, which in turn could get entangled in power lines.
Fontana said the city is aware that vulnerable populations who count on power supplies might be impacted if power is lost. Ten areas in the city have been identified as being home to large elderly populations who rely on elevators to move in and out of their building. He said that the goal would be to restore power as soon as possible.
“There’s a certain level of stress that will be unprecedented. It is not just the stress of a hurricane or a tropical storm. It’s in this COVID environment that people are not accustomed to,” said Richard Branigan, chief administrative pfficer of the American Red Cross in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The city has prepared three emergency shelters with strict physical distancing measures in place at Regional Career High, Hillhouse’s Floyd Little Fieldhouse, and Wilbur Cross High School. The shelters will be activated if the city determines that it is necessary.
If used, the shelters will house a lower density of people than usual to reduce potential transmission of the Covid-19 virus: 125 square feet will be allocated to each person seeking shelter, as compared to the typical 35 square feet.
Career usually accommodates 2,200 people. Now, the city plans for it to house 50 to 80 people. By comparison, the city housed not more than 250 people in shelters during Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Irene.
Every person who enters the shelter will be rapidly tested for the Covid-19 virus with the help of staff from the Fair Haven Community Health Care. They will have to wear a mask, use hand sanitizer, and take their temperature. A separate room will be prepared in collaboration with the American Red Cross to shelter those who have tested positive for Covid-19.
The food trucks at Long Wharf Drive will also be closed Tuesday, said Elicker. Restaurants doing outdoor dining are asked to take outdoor furniture indoors.
Justin Elicker.
Director of Health Maritza Bond said some Covid-19 testing sites will be closed Tuesday. and the city’s Covid-19 website will be updated with that information. She said that people have symptoms of Covid-19 during the storm should self-isolate and quarantine at home.
City Engineer Giovanni Zinn also cautioned at a storm surge might occur. High tide will be at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and 12:48 a.m. Wednesday, bookending the likely worst impacts from the storm. Weather predictions forecast an additional one to two feet of water in Long Island Sound. If that happens at the same time as high tide, flooding in streets could occur.
“The big message we want to get out is: Do not drive through flooded streets,” said Zinn, explaining that engines can become ruined and cars stuck if people do so. He also asked residents to clear the catch basins in their homes.
Fontana anticipates this as just the beginning of an aggressive hurricane season. Another storm is hot on the heels of Tropical Storm Isaias.
“We’re well-prepared,” said Fontana. “When you’re looking at 60 mile-an-hour winds, there is going to be power loss, people are going to be inconvenienced, people are going to be able to not leave to go to a doctor’s appointment because they live on the eighth or ninth floor and they can’t get downstairs. We’re going to do everything in our power to try and minimize the inconvenience.”
Watch the press conference below.
