Greetings!

Governor Deval Patrick has declared a State of Emergency for Massachusetts and Quincy Mayor Tom Koch has activated our Emergency Operation Center in preparation of Hurricane Irene. 

  

Each of the City's departments have been doing their part in preparation for the storm. The Public Works crew has been  very busy cleaning "catch basins/storm drains" and outfall pipes increasing their capacity to handle the storm water. The crew was out inspecting all of the City's tide gates and knowing past storms have had the hardest impact at Edgewater Drive and Post Island Road have opted to operate those gates manually to ensure operation if the power is out. The beach gates have been installed and sandbags brought to areas in anticipation of coastal flooding.

 

I have been working with Mayor Koch and Fire Chief Joe Barron, who is the director of Emergency Management for our City. With two peninsulas and the majority of Quincy's coastline in Ward One, he has asked that Fallon Ambulance station an ambulance in Houghs Neck and has Rescue One, which is normally based out of Headquarters joining the Engine Six Fire Station in Houghs Neck. Engine Eight and the Germantown Fire Station will be fully staffed and Headquarters will provide assistance as needed to our area. Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan has additional staff in the area as well.

 

With advance warning of hurricane potential, coastal residents have taken time to prepare their homes, yards and boats for the storm. Thank you to the Quincy Police Marine Unit for securing the floats at the Public Landing and Houghs Neck Maritime Center, which has been very busy all week with consistent lines on five boats waiting for our ramp.While sad to see the boats being pulled, we are glad to have them safely ashore. Quincy Police Lieutenant Bob Gillan of the Marine Unit asks owners of small boats that don't require registration, such as kayaks, canoes and small sailboats, to have emergency contact information written on the boat as if, for example, a kayak were to be found drifting, the Coast Guard would need to mount a rescue search as it would be unknown if the vessel was manned.

 

I'm also including contact information for the major utilities and ask if you have a power, gas or telephone outage that YOU CALL IT IN as they prioritize their response with the volume of calls coming in. So, as they may be aware of the outage, it is helpful to have multiple calls to expedite the response. Please read below for more information. 

Many Quincy residents also have homes on the Cape and most I've spoken with are weathering the storm in "the Q". Congressman Bill Keating's district covers from Quincy to the Cape and Islands and I encourage you to visit his website for resources for that area and to sign up for his e-newsletter.

Communication is key during a storm and is often limited by power outages. I have found that having a cell phone with Internet access is very useful and I often update during the storms via social media. If you are on Facebook or Twitter, please "request" and "follow" me. I have posted many links to useful information on my pages. Be prepared and stay safe, Margaret