Community Corner

No Evacuations Ordered For New London

Emergency shelter opening at 6 p.m.

With conditions cloudy but calm on Saturday morning, New Londoners are continuing to prepare for the approach of Hurricane Irene but none are being asked to evacuate their homes.

Reid Burdick, emergency management director for the city, said the New London Police Department has issued a public advisory to six houses on Pequot Avenue suggesting that residents there leave until after the storm passes. He said these houses have historically been subject to flooding conditions, although residents have typically stayed there during similar inclement weather.

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for low-lying areas in Stonington. According to the New York Times, coastal areas suspectible to flooding--including Coney Island, Battery Park, and parts of Staten Island--have also received evacuation orders.

Find out what's happening in New Londonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Gov. Dannel Malloy said today that he is on all non-emergency traffic on state highways on Sunday. A number of have already taken place due to potentially hazardous storm conditions. Amtrak has started cancelling train service and no trips will run in the Northeastern Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C. on Sunday. Ferry service has also been cancelled for Sunday.

Burdick said New London is following winter storm protocols in asking downtown residents to move their vehicles to the for the duration of the storm. Vehicles may be parked in the garage free of charge.

Find out what's happening in New Londonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The city will open an emergency shelter at 6 p.m. tonight. The shelter, located in the , will be run by the Red Cross.

Burdick said the roads that are most susceptible to flooding are the intersection of Howard Street and Bank Street, portions of Montauk Ave., and the area of . He said the has brought traffic barriers to these areas so they can be swiftly set up.

Individual precautions varied across town. Many homes and businesses show no additional safeguards, though some have boarded or taped up their windows. At , metal bleachers were taken inside and a snow fence was put up.

The National Weather Service has issued a hurricane warning for the Connecticut coast. According to the latest update from the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Hurricane Irene will make landfall near Stamford at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The storm is expected to be a Category 1 hurricane at that point, and the department said confidence in storm track predictions is high at this point.

The department predicts that tropical storm conditions, including rain and high winds, will arrive tonight between 10 p.m. and midnight. Hurricane force winds are expected to hit the coast at approximately 7 a.m. on Sunday.


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