HURRICANE IRENE
TO HIT
BETHESDA
THIS WEEKEND
Batten down the hatches! Bethesda, Maryland is in the path of every model trajectory of Hurricane Irene, currently moving along the southeast coast at 14 MPH, with winds upwards of 110 MPH. In other words, Irene is one nasty storm heading our way!
What to expect? Torrential downpours, flash flooding, wind gusts of 50-70+ MPH, and widespread power outages. Aside from a miraculous blowing out to sea, that's probably the best case scenario.
The worst case would be if Irene turns up the Chesapeake Bay, and/or spawns tornados that would be very destructive. Who's got it worst? North Carolina, followed by Ocean City.
Governor Martin O'Malley has taken the unprecedented step of ordering a mandatory evacuation of Ocean City. If this turns out to be the long-fabled Big One - the feared killer storm that many scientists have warned could be catastrophic in Ocean City - Governor O'Malley will get a lot of credit for this decision.
But for us here in Bethesda, the main thing is to take precautions and prepare your emergency supplies as I outlined in yesterday's post. Have the Pepco number ready to report outages and downed powerlines.
Watch out for standing water in places like Montgomery Lane and 355, and Arlington Road at Bradley Blvd. Little Falls Parkway has several potential flash flood spots, so avoid it if flood conditions exist. But almost any place can flood under certain conditions, so drive cautiously.
Stay tuned to @BethesdaRow on Twitter for the latest Bethesda news and events this weekend!
2 comments:
Are there any emergency shelter locations in the area in case of structural damage to homes, windows shattering, power outages, etc.?
Usually shelters only open before a storm when a mandatory evacuation is ordered.
Should the storm cause damage, the county and state will announce shelter locations once it safe to go outside. I cannot find any information on the county, state MEMA, or FEMA websites that offer shelter locations at this time.
So the best plan is to be prepared for the storm, and then listen to radio announcements for shelter locations. The Montgomery County website has an Alert Montgomery system you can sign up for. You can also call 311 for information about any county resources. The Red Cross also offers shelter assistance after disasters.
You bring up a point that it appears government can improve upon, because there should really be a standing list of shelters, and there obviously is not.
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