On Tuesday morning, Newtown Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Director William Halstead stood in the First Selectman's Office receiving the latest update on the progress of Hurricane Earl. At that point, Chief Halstead had been following the developing storm for five days.
But by Friday, September 3, he and Deputy Emergency Management Director Donna Culbert said they believed the area of impact from Earl was expected to be confined to the coast and Southeastern Connecticut.
The pair spoke to The Bee around 11am Friday that towns in the Hartford area and Western Connecticut were not forecast to see any significant impacts of the storm. And by 3:30 pm, only a few scant raindrops had fallen, and little or no wind was evident.
Chief Halstead said that while the local and state Departments of Emergency Management and Homeland Security will continue to monitor Earl and will issue regular updates, he was forced to anticipate the worst - a direct hit of a Catagory 4 storm.
As a result, he had informal meetings with representatives of all town emergency services, the police, the highway and parks department, and any other local agencies that might be affected by, or supporting storm response.
Ms Culbert said she was happy to see that the eventual storm track out to sea and to the northeast would minimize any imminent municipal emergency preparations.
She said Newtown Emergency Management continues to receive updates from state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (CT DEMHS).
"We anticipate rain and minor wind impacts," she said. "We do encourage residents to continue monitoring weather conditions with respect to their plans - especially involving outdoor work or travel, and use common sense. We are still in the active Hurricane season and encourage residents to continue their general preparation efforts.
To that end, the Health District will keep posted a Hurricane Fact Sheet for local residents, which can be reviewed at: http://www.newtown-ct.gov