November 23, 2011

SURVIVED ALFRED...READY FOR THE LOCUTS. THANK YOU ALL!!!

2011 has been quite a year. Aside from our economic woes, the year started with a tough and snowy winter, then tornadoes just north of us, spring and summer flooding, an earthquake, and the October Nor’easter “Alfred.”

Having seen our town’s response to it all from an up-close perspective, I’m happy to report that if the logical next disaster strikes….locusts….we’ll be ready and will handle it with equal aplomb.

I attended most of the daily meetings of the town “emergency operations center” as well as the daily meetings with CL&P. I also visited the shelter on several occasions. So I have an inside view that I want to share.

While much of the press has focused on CL&P’s response, I want to take this moment to focus on the positives and try to thank the many, many folks who kept our town residents safe and made the extended power outage more comfortable.

Let me start by commending Simsbury staff and elected officials for an impressive response to the storm.

Our shelter opened on Saturday night—only hours after the storm started. It was an amazing operation, that logged in over 7,000 Simsbury residents over the course of its week of operations and provided over-night accommodations to over 1,200 people and about 80 pets. Many of these shelter residents came with significant medical needs, including group home residents and even folks discharged to the shelter from the hospital. The fire department’s ladies auxiliary and the school food service workers cooked up literally thousands of meals on peak days—and they weren’t the MREs offered in most other shelters.

The shelter was run by our competent and tireless Social Services and Senior Services directors: Mickey LeCours-Beck and Kathy Marshall, both of whom seemed to forgo sleep for days on end. But they couldn’t have done it without the help of their staff and countless volunteers who helped clean, serve meals, walk dogs, care for frail residents, provide activities for kids, etc. In addition, local restaurants and grocers donated food and cooking services. Many local businesses and service organizations donated beverages, towels, bedding, and other supplies.

Our public safety operations were spearheaded by Kevin Kowalski, Simsbury’s Emergency Management Director. Our police, fire fighters, Department of Public Works personnel (DPW), and non-profit first responders all focused acutely and appropriately on public safety issues and there were many. We had an incredible number of fires, carbon monoxide poisonings, and accidents all resulting from the event. In spite of the complications of trees and wires down on the roads, our team of dedicated public safety personnel got to people in need of help and assured that no one in Simsbury died. They also managed to keep key town infrastructures—like the water system pumps and sewage treatment plant—operational by juggling generators.

When CL&P lagged in its assignment of line crews, without whom our town DPW crews cannot clear roads, Mary Glassman took the lead in working with the Governor, the press, and other towns to apply pressure to bring the National Guard and more CL&P crews to our battered town. The entire team of selectmen participated in nightly meetings with CL&P to hold their feet to the fire until all the roads were cleared and power restored.

I hope you’ll all join me in extending your thanks to our town team for their extraordinary efforts. They worked like a well-oiled machine, in part because they had the foresight to plan and train extensively for disaster preparedness—an investment that certainly paid off. People did whatever it took to get things done, working long hours with no days off and going well beyond their job descriptions—and I never heard a single complaint from any of them.

But the town staff are not the only folks who deserve recognition. Many businesses did whatever they could to help—opening their doors to the public for showers when their power returned; donating food, supplies, and their own labor; and helping to get the word out to their customers and members about what was happening in town. In addition, there were countless acts of generosity and caring between townsfolk, who reached out to make sure their neighbors were okay, opened their homes if they had generators, and helped clear downed limbs that were trapping people in their driveways.

Doubtless I have forgotten to list someone or some entity that made a significant contribution to the town wide effort. So if you know of someone I failed to thank in this missive, please thank them for me!

While Alfred was a devastating, costly and at times dangerous event, many folks have remarked on their positive experiences. Simsbury residents pulled together, demonstrated their Yankee resilience, and helped each other get through it with good cheer and goodwill.

I think we should all count our blessings for living in this great community of wonderful people. With Thanksgiving around the corner, I know I have a lot to be thankful for right here in Simsbury!