As the 10-year anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene approaches, communities up and down the Connecticut River Valley are making similar preparations and bracing for Hurricane Henri’s arrival in the region Sunday afternoon.
Police, fire and public works departments across Franklin County are checking equipment, monitoring flood-prone areas and bringing on extra manpower in response to rain-heavy forecasts. Henri, which is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reaches the region, is projected to bring three to six inches of rain and dangerous wind gusts up to 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service’s Boston branch.
Greenfield has undertaken extensive preparations for the storm and will be closely monitoring the situation as it develops. Police will be checking flood-prone streets such as Nash’s Mill Road every half hour and the Department of Public Works has already placed road closure signs in the area in the event of flooding, according to the Police Department’s Facebook page.
Mayor Roxann Wedegartner said the city has been preparing since Friday and the police, fire and DPW are ready to respond to emergencies.
“We are as prepared as we can be,” Wedegartner said. “These are the experts … I really do rely on them greatly because I trust them.”
Wedegartner urged residents to avoid unnecessary trips, take care of their families and to “be smart” if an emergency situation does arise. She added the city will be monitoring the storm as it progresses, but they are prepared for a worst-case scenario.
“We always have to prepare for the worst and hope that the best happens,” Wedegartner said. “That’s the mantra Greenfield certainly subscribes to.”
Greenfield Police Deputy Chief William Gordon said the department always prepares for storms and Henri is no different. He added the Police Department is “fully aware” of flood-prone streets and officers will be monitoring them.
“We’re expected to see a storm like Tropical Storm Irene,” Gordon said. “We’re prepared, we’ve seen this before and we know how to properly prepare our area.”
Gordon urged residents to “respect” closed roads because water in the road is dangerous and people should avoid storm-damaged areas because more injuries put additional strain on emergency responders.
“Often people use it not expecting it to be as deep as it is,” Gordon said. “Anytime you see standing water in the roads, make sure you ‘turn around and don’t drown.’”
If residents see downed trees or wires, they should call the station’s business line: 413-773-5411. Gordon asked residents to only call 911 if it’s an emergency.
“We ask that people do not call 911 or our business line to report power outages,” Gordon said. “We only have the same information everyone else has.”
Residents can report and view power outage information on Eversource’s website at https://bit.ly/3z8nNDb
DPW Director Marlo Warner said chainsaws and trucks are loaded and ready to respond to emergencies. He said fallen trees and flooding are anticipated and they are preparing just as they did for Irene a decade ago.
“Ready the equipment, ready the gear in order to respond accordingly,” Warner said. “Irene was pretty serious in the city, we’re all set to respond to multiple road closures if we need to.”
Deerfield, which was slammed by July’s heavy rains, has already set up potential road closures and planned alternate routes so emergency services can respond anywhere in town.
“That’s what happened with Irene, the town got segmented and isolation,” Selectboard member Carolyn Shores Ness said. “Everyone will be pre-staging and watching the situation so no area is left unprotected.”
Areas under watch include Routes 5 and 10 and Wapping Road, which experienced significant flooding last month.
“We know where our trouble spots are and we’re hoping with what happened with (Tropical Storms) Fred and Elsa and all the rain in July,” Shores Ness said. “So far, the news has been relatively favorable in the sense it seems to be marginally better with every report.”
She said much of the town’s attention will be focused on the Deerfield, Green and Connecticut rivers and any dam releases bringing more water through town.
“If you think of it as a bowl, Deerfield’s at the bottom — everything empties to Deerfield,” Shores Ness said. “So it depends on how much water is falling in each of those watersheds.”
While she said the newest reports are looking better for Deerfield, if the storm happens to stall over Deerfield then they could be looking at significant flooding.
“The key period is 4 to 7 p.m.,” Shores Ness said. “If it’s coming two inches an hour and it’s solid and is stalling out, we’re in trouble. If it’s just bands going through, we might be OK.”
Buckland Selectboard Chair Zachary Turner said town and public safety officials held a meeting Sunday morning to finalize plans.
“Everyone knows plan A, plan B and plan C,” Turner said. “Everything’s fueled, everything’s on standby.”
He said the reservoirs higher up on the Deerfield River have had their water levels lowered, which will help prevent the kind of flooding that came with Irene. Turner added the town is prepared and will be working with neighboring Shelburne should they need mutual aid to cover Shelburne Falls.
“I think we’re in good shape and it’s the wait-and-see game now,” Turner said. “Hopefully, we get minimal rain and I hope we don’t get any high winds, being the ground is already saturated.”
Orange Fire Chief James Young said the town has not declared a state of emergency and they have their “normal preparations” in place.
He said they’ll be watching flood-prone areas and will respond accordingly.
“We’ll see where the heaviest pockets of rain are,” Young said. “If the storm shifts and it’s worse than what it’s projected to be, we’ll make adjustments.”
Athol Public Works Director Dick Kilhart said that his crews weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary — simply making sensible preparations for a storm with the potential to slam North Quabbin with strong winds and heavy rain.
“We began prepping Thursday and Friday,” said Kilhart, “just doing the normal things that we would typically do — top off our generators, make sure vehicles are fueled, letting folks know I’d probably be calling them on Saturday night or Sunday morning. Not that folks need to hang around, but they could probably be expecting some phone calls. We made sure that chain saws and barricades, things of that nature, are readily accessible and available so that we don’t have to go dig into the back of the garage.
“When you get the kind of rain they’re talking about — anywhere from four to eight inches — a lot of times you just have to stand back and let Mother Nature do her thing. You often have to react after the fact.”
Kilhart did say that several steps were taken, however, to keep problems to a minimum.
“Some of the troublesome areas, we cleared grates, catch basins and things like that on Thursday and Friday. I’ve been in touch with both the police chief and fire chief, just coordinating with them in case they thought there was anything they needed leading up to the storm.
Northfield Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III said they have also made normal storm preparations and the storm will be monitored as it unfolds.
“We’ve kind of gone over all our equipment,” Dunnell said. “The Highway Department is on standby.”
He said areas like Four Mile Brook and Gulf roads were heavily impacted by the July rainstorms and they will be checking them regularly. Dunnell urged residents to make the safe decision and stay at home.
“Heed the advisory: if you don’t need to go out, don’t go out,” Dunnell said. “Hopefully, we’ll all get through this unscathed.”
Franklin County residents filled grocery stores around the region as they began stocking up on essentials to prepare for power outages.
Northfield resident Travis Clough was packing his car with huge bags of groceries from the Greenfield Stop and Shop early Saturday evening. He said he was “stocking up” and wanted to load his freezer so it wouldn’t go bad if there is an extended power outage.
“$400 worth of groceries for my four boys at home,” Clough said while loading his car. “Water, juice, the basic stuff.”
He said he was getting “worse” vibes from Henri than he felt 10 years ago for Irene.
“I wish everyone the best,” Clough said. “Stay home, stay safe.”
Millers Falls resident Susan Stafford said she had just got out of work and was “stocking up” at the Greenfield Stop and Shop as well.
“I had wanted to go home after work, but Mother Nature had other plans,” Stafford said. “I’ve had to run around.”
She said she hopes the storm isn’t as bad as Irene, but she is preparing for the worst.
“Better to be safe than sorry,” Stafford said. “I’m hoping we get through this with minimal damage.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.