United Illuminating and emergency crews prepare for storm ahead of holiday weekend

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WFSB) - Tonight emergency crews say they are preparing for a triple threat of high winds, possible flooding, and extremely cold temperatures.

Flooding is a concern for emergency crews and officials urge you to have a plan.

“We got our parks DPW folks that will have vehicles stacked up with barricades and over the road flooding signs that will go out on Friday. We anticipate at high tide, which is 10:30 Friday morning, we anticipate some flooding along the coast,” said Rick Fontana, Director of Emergency Operations in New Haven.

Rick Fontana says several streets could be blocked by water.

Another concern for crews are the trees.

“Potential loss of tree limbs or trees because the ground will start to get saturated with 50 degree temps. So a lot of things hitting at one time which will create different levels of public safety issues,” said Fontana.

United Illuminating says, for now, they are at a level 5, which is their lowest level. They don’t think outages will be severe but they will keep a close eye on the situation.

“We are preparing for up to 15,000 power outages around the course of the storm. That will be a level 5 storm in our emergency response plans. That means we have crews on standby and ready to work. Despite being a holiday weekend, our teams are ready,” said Bob Brown, United Illuminating.

Up in Hartford, the city forester is planning to have a busy end of the week. She expects trees to come down, especially the ones dried up because of recent droughts.

“I anticipate Friday is going to be very, very busy. The winds are going to be a little more intense than the past few storms we had. So we are ready. I got the contractors that will be with us,” said Heather Dione, Hartford City Forester.

Crews urge people to know the exits, especially if you’re at someone’s house for the holidays in an emergency.

You should also keep devices charged and pack medication.

Crews say they will try and treat the roads before those temperatures start to drop.

There will also be warming centers opening up

Lastly, be aware of your surroundings. If you are parking somewhere for a holiday party, see what trees are around and if your car will be safe.

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