What To Do Before Hurricane Sandy Arrives

The weather reports are growing increasingly ominous, and it looks like Rocky Hill will almost certainly get some heavy rain and wind courtesy of "Frankenstorm" Sandy.

The National Weather Service has issued a "Hazardous Weather Outlook" for the area.

There are several important tasks residents should take care of this weekend, in advance of the storm.

Take Care of Leaves in the Gutters and Storm Drains

Residents should be sure the road edges and gutters, as well as catch basins in front of their homes, are clear of leaves. Leaf-filled gutters and catch basins will lead to an increase of localized street flooding.

Sign Up for CodeRed, Rocky Hill's Emergency Alert System

The Town of Rocky Hill has instituted the CodeRED® Emergency Notification System - an ultra high-speed telephone communication service for emergency notifications. "This system allows  to telephone all or targeted areas of the Town in case of an emergency situation that requires immediate action (ex. evacuation notices, shelter-in-place notices and missing child reports). The system is capable of dialing 60,000 phone numbers per hour. It then delivers our recorded message to a live person or an answering machine, making three attempts to connect to any number."

Residential Data Update Page

No one should assume his or her phone number is included in the systems database. All businesses should register as well as residents, especially those who have unlisted phone numbers or who have changed their phone number or address within the last year. To input an unlisted number, cell phone number, or other secondary phone number into the system, please visit the Town of Rocky Hill Residential Data Update Page.

Cell phones

If the phone number is a Cellular Phone it must be linked to a specific address. The “location” of the cell phone number becomes essentially fixed to that specific location. This could lead to the situation of a cell phone being notified when the user is mobile and not within the affected area. Or conversely, the situation where the user is mobile and is within the affected area but is NOT notified because the fixed location of the cellular number is in an unaffected area.

Make Sure You Have a Storm Emergency Kit

CL&P is working hard on public relations in advance of this storm, trying to avoid some of the criticism the company faced from the handling of Tropical Storm Irene and the October 2011 snowstorm. The American Red Cross also has extensive information about emergency preparedness, and yes, there's even "an app for that."

Safeguard Patio Furniture and Other Outdoor Items

Also from the American Red Cross: "Forecasts are still projecting damaging winds for us from Hurricane Sandy. Since we are already at the end of 'outdoor season,' use this weekend to put away lawn furniture, take down hanging planters, put away grills and store other stuff that could get blown around when Sandy hits us early next week.'"

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One of the differences between Sandy and many other recent storms, is that it is expected to last more than a day. “We’re talking about a (storm) delivery timeframe of substantially longer than perhaps what people are used to,” Gov. Malloy told a gathering of reporters outside his offices at the state capitol Friday morning. “This is not a 12-hour storm. This could be a 36-hour storm with 40-plus mile an hour winds.” Residents should also plan for a minimum of seven inches of rain, he said.