RIDGEFIELD, Conn. When Ridgefield participated in a statewide exercise simulating what would happen if a Category 3 hurricane came across Long Island Sound and made landfall in Connecticut, nothing went quite to plan.
But everyone who was at the breakdown discussion Tuesday afternoon agreed it went well. I was pleased, said Dick Aarons, Ridgefields emergency manager. The idea of drills like this is to find out what needs improvement, how we can do it better and how we can work better with each other.
And with the first anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene coming up next month, being prepared for a storm is important. Were due for a big one, First Selectman Rudy Marconi said. The last Category 3 hurricane to come up into Connecticut was in 1954.
To help towns, utility companies and the state become better prepared for a storm, they simulated a hurricane.
The faux hurricane caused widespread damage across the state, Marconi said. Half of Ridgefields trees went down, 90 percent of the state lost power and 50 percent of Ridgefields roads were closed because of downed trees and wires in the simulation.
Ultimately, the towns goal is to have a plan in place that gives residents enough warning so they can prepare or leave town. Residents should always be prepared for at least five days without power, Marconi said. One suggestion was for residents to create neighborhood associations because roads might be too dangerous for emergency vehicles.
An important part of the drill was to ensure that towns can work with Connecticut Light & Power better and more efficiently than they had during Irene and the Halloween snowstorm.
Patrick Foley, the CL&P liaison to Ridgefield, said that in case of this type of emergency, he has been given better tools to assist the town, such as maps showing the seven main circuits in the town and real time information about lines being repaired.
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