Secure Pools Before Hurricane Irene Makes Her Entrance

Madison resident Jim Cutler isn’t taking any chances.  Before Hurricane Irene makes landfall in Madison he is going to secure his pool by putting on the loop loc pool cover and moving all the patio furniture to his garage.

In the ten years since he has had a pool he has never had to prepare for a major storm like this, but according to Aquatic Pool Director of Service Dan Christoforo, Cutler is doing exactly what he would recommend.

“People are calling frantically and want to move them (closings) up now and get the pools closed this Friday or Saturday to beat the storm and the inevitable cleanup that’s going to ensue,” said Christoforo.

Others are calling saying they don’t want to close up their pool until mid to late September, but just want to protect it from any damage.  He suggests putting on the loop loc cover because this sturdy cover will “keep debris out of the pool,” said Christoforo. 

Christoforo says that although it’s not incredibly busy he is seeing an increase in activity.  “It hasn’t been crazy,” he said.  “Normally on a Saturday I have one crew doing follow-up stuff, tomorrow I have three crews and we’re closing around 15 pools.”

In addition to covering the pool and moving all the patio furniture inside, he offered the following advice:

• Turn off all power to pool
• Secure things that are in your pool area that cannot be moved indoors
• Drain some water from the pool because of the expected rainfall

He said they have seen damage to pools from bad storms, but not bad enough to be considered hurricanes.  “We’ve seen people who have glass tables and the glass tips over, shatters and ends up in the pool,” said Christoforo.  “That’s a nightmare because you have to get a diver to go in there and get the glass out, make sure there are no holes.”

After the storm, what is Christoforo expecting?  “I’m sure it’s going to be bad,” he said.  “I’m sure we’re going to have some pools where liners actually float because of all the rain and the ground water.  Liners can float in the pools and then they settle and you get wrinkles in the pools.”

Christoforo says Aquatic Pool is prepared for the storm and its aftermath, but you never know what to expect. 

“I’m used to people calling after storms,” said Christoforo.  “I don’t really know what’s going to happen with this one because they’re saying it’s much worse than anything we’ve had in recent history.”

“We’re expecting it,” said Christoforo.  “But I don’t really know what to expect!”