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Governor Dannel Malloy is urging residents to prepare now for Hurricane Irene, rather than wait until it arrives. WNPR’s Nancy Cohen reports
Governor Malloy is asking citizens who are at risk of flooding and who live along the shore or close to rivers and streams to leave their homes soon.
“We are absolutely one hundred percent urging any citizen who has ever experienced flooding, in any part of the state previously, to take the steps necessary to vacate those circumstances by 12 O’Clock midnight Saturday night. And that may move to an earlier hour if this storm moves more quickly.”
But Malloy hasn’t ordered an evacuation yet. He says tropical force winds could start midnight Saturday.
“This is a very large storm, which will dump large amounts of rain as is projected now, and sustained winds for a very long period of time. What we are actually anticipating is tremendous tree damage and limb damage and I will also warn you that we are also anticipating, based on current predictions, is a large-scale loss of electricity across the state and not just for a few hours, days and weeks.”
Malloy is urging citizens not to wait to get ready for the hurricane
“We have time to prepare! And roughly that time is from now until about 12 midnight Saturday. After that point preparation time will have passed. We will be experiencing high winds form approximately that time forward.”
Malloy says he may decide to close the Merritt Parkway and Wilbur Cross on Midnight Saturday. And that the state is making plans to evacuate urban areas, if that is needed.
