Update: Manchester Battens Down the Hatches for Irene

Update 5:15 p.m.

The town just issued a parking ban through 8 a.m. on Monday.

Original Story:

Town personnel spent the better part of Friday preparing for the coming of Hurricane Irene, which included prepping an emergency shelter in anticipation of the storm and establishing a non-emergency hotline where residents can access local information about Irene and her impact on Manchester.

“We’re battening everything down,” said General Manager Scott Shanley Friday afternoon. “We are preparing the shelters. Our parks people are moving everything that is able to be lifted by wind and thrown… Everybody knows what they need to be doing and they’re doing it.”

The town established a telephone hotline Friday, at 860-647-5699, that allows Manchester residents to access information pertaining to Hurricane Irene before, during, and after the storm; emergencies that require immediate attention should still be directed to public safety dispatchers at 860-645-5500 or by calling 911.

In addition, the town has decided to open an emergency shelter for residents who feel they need it during the storm. The shelter will be located at the , at 549 E. Middle Tpke., and will open Saturday evening at 6 p.m. Residents who access the shelter are urged to only bring essentials, such as food (particularly those with special dietary needs), medication, clothing, flashlights and batteries, toiletries, and books, games and magazines. Shanley said that, if the need arises, the town would also open a second shelter at at 134 E. Middle Tpke.

Public Works Director Mark Carlino said that his department spent the better part of the day Friday securing any items at town parks or recreation fields that could be picked up by strong wind gusts and turned into a projectile during the storm, such as picnic tables, playground equipment and trash cans.

“We want to ensure as little opportunity for having things blown around and being projectiles as possible," he said. 

Shanley said that all essential town personnel were on standby over the weekend and that emergency personnel were monitoring low-lying and flood prone areas in town.

The town also closed the Globe Hollow pool Saturday and Sunday, but the Community Y will maintain its normal hours Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

predict that wind and rain associated with the storm will begin late Saturday night and continue into Sunday morning, with the peak of the storm predicted to hit Hartford County by 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday, and beginning to taper off by midnight. Meteorologists are predicting that Irene could dump as much as 10 inches of rain on parts of the state and bring winds upwards of 100 miles per hour.

Carlino said that, if the storm is as severe as forecasted, he expected substantial cleanup on Monday.

“The best case scenario is this thing moves out to sea, but all the forecasts have this storm touching down on land and moving right up the center of the state,” Carlino said. “If that happens, we’re going to see winds in this region that we haven’t seen in over 25 years.”

Stick with Patch throughout the hurricane (or tropical storm) this weekend for all the latest news and info.