As Hurricane Irene Looms, Gov Declares Emergency

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a “Declaration of Emergency” Thursday afternoon in anticipation of Hurricane Irene’s landfall, which is expected Sunday. 

According to a release issued by the governor’s office, the declaration gives Malloy broad powers to act during an emergency, including:

• The ability to order evacuations of all or part of the population of a stricken or threatened area and take necessary steps for receipt and care of evacuees
• The ability to modify or suspend any state statute, regulation, or requirement (for example: altering work hours, waiving licensing requirements, etc.)
• The ability to order civil preparedness forces into action
• The ability to designate vehicle and person routes and movements

“The forecast path of Hurricane Irene has convinced me that the signing of this declaration is necessary, and will help us react more quickly and effectively in the event of a serious weather event,” Malloy said in the release. “I will continue to work with state and local officials and authorities to ensure that our state is as prepared as possible for Hurricane Irene, and can react as efficiently as possible on behalf of our residents.” 

Earlier on Friday, Malloy’s office launched a website to keep state residents up-to-date on the hurricane’s potential track and the administration’s public-safety efforts. All state agencies have a link to the site on their homepages. 

The governor also urged residents to sign up for the CT Alert email and text-message emergency notification system. 

 “I’m committed to keeping residents up-to-date about our state’s preparations, and in the case of an evacuation or other event, we’ll make sure people know where to go, and when,” Malloy said. “More information is better than less in these types of situations, and I’m encouraging all Connecticut residents to take a moment to consider their situation, and what they need to do to prepare.”

More severe than Gloria

On his blog, Way Too Much Weather, NBC Connecticut's Ryan Hanrahan writes that the most likely scenario for Hurricane Irene "is a direct hit as severe or more severe than Gloria."

"Winds of this magnitude will likely be as strong or stronger than what we experienced during Hurricane Gloria," the meteorologist adds. "The wet soil and long duration of winds will make trees very susceptible to either being uprooted or damaged."

Hanrahan also writes that, due to the particularly high tides brought about by the new moon, "we should prepare for a category higher of storm surge than would typically be expected from a cat 1 or 2."

While no warnings or watches have yet been issued for Connecticut, the National Hurricane Center now puts the probability of Fairfield County experiencing tropical storm force winds at 50 to 60 percent.

The storm is still projected to make landfall in the area around 5 p.m. Sunday, according to the latest bulletin from the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.

The section above previously was published by Meriden Patch.

Past Connecticut hurricanes

Trying to remember the last hurricane that struck Connecticut? It was Bob, a category 2 storm that crossed through the state just over 20 years ago.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, just nine hurricanes have hit the Nutmeg State since 1851:

• Unnamed (1): Sept. 16, 1858
• Unnamed (1):  Sept. 8, 1869
• Unnamed (3): Sept. 21, 1938
• Unnamed (3): Sept. 15, 1944
• Carol (3): Aug. 31, 1954
• Donna (2): Sept. 12, 1960
• Belle (1): Aug. 10, 1976
• Gloria (2): Sept. 27, 1985
• Bob (2): Aug. 19, 1991

The section above previously was published by Darien Patch.

Irene has her own Twitter account already

Amid the flurry of statements by officials and reports from meteorologists, there is yet another source of information on Hurricane Irene: Hurricane Irene herself.

The weather wonder's Twitter account already has 1,688 followers, as of 6:57 p.m. tonight.

Her last tweet was 53 minutes ago and shows that this storm has a sense of humor: "My eye is back. I am watching you. So pumped it's #Jersday. I am flattered all these state of emergencies are for me. That's how I spin."

The section above originally was published by Woodbury-Middlebury Patch.