The Boats Are Ready

As the city braces for the full force of Sandy’s wrath to arrive Monday night, officials have boats ready to deploy to extract people if the ​“bathtub” of Morris Cove fills up and traps neighbors in their homes.

Mayor John DeStefano (pictured) outlined those preparations at a 6:45 p.m. press briefing in City Hall Monday night.

DeStefano offered some numbers about the current state of Hurricane Sandy, the monstrous storm that has begun battering the eastern seaboard.

Some 2,600 homes were without power by the time of the briefing, DeStefano said. Of those, 1,000 are in Fair Haven and 1,000 are in the East Shore. United Illuminating may need to shut down an electrical substation on Grand Avenue if it looks like it may flood, DeStefano said. That would result in 14,000 homes without power. (The number of homes without power rose to 4,248 by 8 p.m.)

The city is sheltering 150 people at two locations, DeStefano said. At the time of the briefing, 53 power lines were down, as well as 89 trees, most of which fell after 5 p.m., he said.

Low tide, which came at about 6:30 p.m., was the equivalent of a normal high tide, DeStefano said. The storm is causing 8‑foot storm swells, he said. Come high tide, just past midnight, the city is expecting to see flooding in areas of town that have never flooded before, the mayor said.

Of greatest concern are City Point, Fair Haven, East Shore, and Morris Cove, which is essentially bowl-shaped between Dean Street and Townsend Avenue, the mayor said. If that bowl — or ​“bathtub” as Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts called it — fills up, the city will send in ​“high-water” vehicles or boats to take people to dry land.

“We’ve never had water go in the bathtub before,” Smuts said. ​“That’s a real concern.”

“If you have been asked to evacuate, evacuate,” DeStefano said. ​“If not, stay put.”

Mayor DeStefano said the city will have 400 personnel working through the night. Fire Chief Michael Grant said the fire department is staffed up to 125 people. Police Chief Dean Esserman said he’s deployed all his new rookies at policing substations throughout the city.