Community Corner

Town Shelter Open Now, For You And Your Entire Family

If you don't have somewhere else to go and need shelter, the town gym is ready for you, and your pets, if needed. Don't wait until the last minute.

The town's emergency shelter is all set up and staffed by two shelter managers. The cots are set up. There are crates for animals in a nearby building and the town's animal control officer is on call in case she is needed. They even have crayons and story books, and a play area for the kids.

Ideally, you have already gotten yourself to a place where you can ride out the storm in safety. Madison officials and police are urging residents in shoreline areas, and in the west end of Green Hill Road, to leave their homes and go somewhere else for the duration of the storm. The specific areas are shown on the town website and on the PDF with this article.

First Selectman Fillmore McPherson encourages people who have to leave to "bunk up with a buddy," if possible.

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

The town is here for you

But if you can't get to a buddy's house in time, the town is here for you. The shelter is at , at 8 Campus Drive. Take the Hammonasset Beach State Park exit, exit 62 off of I-95 North and South. Then, drive north, away from the beach. As you drive into town campus, the town gym is the first building to the right.

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

"It is open as of now," said Shelter Manager Peter Omdahl. "We have one row of cots and we can set up another row of cots if that fills up. We have bigger cots, we have smaller cots." They also have crayons, books, and a board game for the kids, and a place for them to run around, separate from the sleeping area.

And, if you're going to come, don't put it off until too late. The town has instituted a driving ban from 11 p.m. Saturday until 3 p.m. Sunday.

"Don't be a hero"

"Come now," said Shelter Manager Rich Powers. "Don't get caught in the worst of it. Don't be a hero."

Town officials also say, that by leaving potentially dangerous areas early, residents won't be endangering the real heros, the police and fire officials who do their best to get to people in need.

But even police and fire officials will not be able to respond at some point. "Winds in excess of 50 miles per hour are expected by midnight on Saturday and in excess of 100 miles per hour by sunrise Sunday, accompanied by major wave action and flooding," said First Selectman Fillmore McPherson in a message sent out to town residents. "If you have not left by midnight Saturday, we may not be able to help you should you have an unsafe situation later on."

"100 percent unpredictable ... "

Deputy Director of Emergency Management Ed Brunt, manning the town's emergency operations center Saturday, said that the forecast could change, but that his best guess right now, based on current forecasts, is that Madison will experience gale force winds by midnight. By daybreak, we could be seeing 58 mph winds, the point at which it would become difficult of impossible for emergency management officials to respond.

The brunt of the storm is likely to be from 9 a.m. to noon Sunday. Brunt said some people have complained that they're tired of hearing about the forecasts and point to past storms that ended up not having a big impact. But he said the unpredictable nature of storms is exactly why people should think ahead, hope for the best and plan for the worst.

"The only thing that's 100 percent predictable is that it is 100 percent unpredictable," he said.


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