Reports from the Director of Public Works
Posted on August 31, 2011 - 4:55 p.m.
Posted on August 29, 2011 - 6:40 a.m.
As of 5:30 AM we have not seen PSNH in town. I have faxed and emailed on all our information and am ready to assist them as soon as they arrive. We still have several roads closed as well as live wires on the ground.
- Prospect Hill by #103 is closed. The wires may be live, please stay away from this area
- Brimstone Corner road by Shady Lane. These lines are still live and arcing
- Birch Road just down from Brimstone Corner Road
- Antrim Road between High Street and Brimstone Corner Road
- Vatcher Road is down to 1 lane for a 400 foot section
- Forest Road has a tree resting on the wires but was passable.
As these areas open up I will update the list.
Overall we faired very well through the storm. All day Saturday the track of the storm placed it over Keene-Greenfield area. When it finally came up through it adjusted to about 50-60 miles west, just over the Vermont border. We didn't miss this by much, Southeastern Vermont was hit very hard. Pick up the Brattleboro paper and see what could have been us. Even as good as the forecasters have become, it is still a lot of guess work until the storm actually gets right upon us. Hopefully that will be it for the 2011 hurricane season.
The cleanup work will begin today, but with several other issues on the horizon it will be a little slower than I would like. We will be using today to make sure all our roads are a passable and eliminating any hazards. I have just this week to finish shimming on North road, I will be putting the crew back onto that starting on Tuesday and going through the week. After this week I start juggling the crew as they have some vacations scheduled and I need to be full staff to shim.
Busby construction is planning on starting the reclaiming of Prospect Hill road on Wednesday/Thursday. The cement stabilization and paving will follow on the week of September 6. I will also focus on cleaning up the rest of the trees and limbs this week, with some grading and roadside mowing to follow.
If you see some damage from the hurricane please give us a call [525.4087] or shoot me an email. We will get the work on the list on start our repairs as soon as possible.
Thanks Kurt
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Posted on Aug. 28, 2011 - 1:30 p.m.
Update: Aug. 28, 8:10 p.m. = roads listed below are still closed
I think the worst of the rain is past. It looks like light showers off and on for the rest of the afternoon. We had some wind, but near as much as predicted. The storm track has shifted more west, and by the sounds South Eastern Vermont has gotten pounded by this storm.
Right now we have trees and wires down on
- Prospect Hill, by #103
- Antrim Road by High Street and by #223
- Vatcher Road by #62
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All of these have been called into PSNH and we are waiting for them to respond. We do have scattered power outages in town, but it is not widespread at this time.
The big unknown now is how much wind will we get as the center of the low pressure passes. I am expecting it to stay breezy through the rest of the day, and hopefully it gets no stronger than what we had this morning.
My crews are out making one last trip around to make sure all the roads that can be opened are open. As long as things do not deteriorate we should be winding down around 4 PM. If you discover something that we should be looking at please call 525.4087 and let me know.
Let's hope that we have a quiet rest of the hurricane season. I will update only if things change, or we have additional road closings. Thanks, Kurt
Photo: Kurt Grassett - Spillway/beaver dam at Eva's Marsh - Beaver Dam? Where did it go?
Posted on August 28, 2011 - 11:10 a.m.
Prospect hill road is closed, wires and trees, at 103 prospect hill road - Kurt
Posted on August 28, 2011 - 9:50 a.m.
Antrim road between High street and Brimstone corner is closed we have a tree and live wires down at the Weston residence. - Kurt
Posted on August 28, 2011 - 9:20 a.m.
I have measured almost 2.5 inches of rain since the beginning of this. The wind gusts are starting to increase in speed and intensity. I expect this to continue to increase all day, with the worst coming from around noon to 8PM.
I have just called in all of my guys to clear all the drainage pipes and basins from the heavy rains this morning. We are hoping to make it around town before the wind really gets going. Now is the time to put that long movie in and enjoy it until the power goes out. Just had a few flickers at the office.
Next update around Noon - Thanks, Kurt
The first bands of rain started overnight and have dropped just under a half an inch of rain so far. The center of Irene is still south of New York City but has already caused power outages across southern parts of NY. Light winds are just starting to kick up in our area. I am expecting these to continue to pick up through the morning. The last storm track placed the center of the storm passing over the Keene area. We should have another update around 7 AM.
Yesterday afternoon all the department heads and the chair of the Selectboard met to review our emergency plans and make sure all our preparations have been completed. As soon as we start having widespread affects we will be opening the Operations Center at the Fire Station. If we have wide spread power outages that will be lasting for several days we will be opening up information centers at the town office. I am still anticipating 4+ inches of rain and winds that will be reaching 40 to 50 mph with higher gusts.
PSNH has been in contact with us and they are prepared to begin moving toward restoration as soon as it is safe to do so. We will be contacting them with any power related outages or damages to assist them with their restoration plan. Their first priority will be to assist us with tree removals on their power lines, then their restoration will begin.
For any emergency situations please call 911. Once the storm gets under way and we open the Operations Center, the Fire Station number is 525.3366. This number can be used for non-emergency storm related issues. Road related issues, trees across roads or washouts you can call my office at 525.4087. My office phone does switch to my cell phone. If you get the answering machine please leave a message, it will be forwarded directly to me.
There is no doubt we will be receiving some affects from Irene. I will be updating through the storm, the next update will be around 9 or 10 AM this morning. Please stay safe, this will all be over by tomorrow morning.
Thanks, Kurt
Some good news, Irene lost a little strength overnight. Maximum sustained winds are around 90 mph as it head into North Carolina. The next 12-16 hours will tell us how much punch will remain as it enters New England. The forecasters are all in pretty much agreement that it will not strengthen anymore, but it may hold onto the intensity that it has for a while longer.
Best guess at this time. The rain will begin this evening, first as showers then getting steady during the overnight hours. I would not be surprised to see the wind start around 3 or 4 in the morning, also getting steadier as the night turns to day. It looks like we will be seeing at least 4 inches of rain, maybe more. I am anticipating sustained winds of at last 40 mph, and they could be as high as 60 mph. I would expect the wind to last for 12-18 hours.
We will have power outages, tree and limbs down and washouts on our roads. Even with the downgrade this is still a serious storm that bears watching. My biggest concern is going to be the downed trees and power lines. I can't stress enough the need to let the power company handle trees on wires.
I found this training video on you tube, put out by the Pennsylvania power company. It has some good explanations and visual effects of what electricity can do. It is worth a look:
I will send out another update during the early morning hours, finish up all those chores and then settle in for a rainy day tomorrow. Thanks, Kurt
By now I would hope that you have all heard of Irene coming up the coast this weekend. This far out there is a lot of speculation and what if's. I am not ready to say this is the worst storm in 50 years, but it does bear watching over the next 36 hours. I get weather updates about every 4 hours, and they are still changing the track a little east and a little west. The east side of the eye gets the worst wind and the west side gets the most rain, straight on gets both.
We started making our preparations the day before yesterday, in conjunction with all the other departments. Our fuel tanks are full, all generators are being tested, all our chainsaws have been readied with spare parts for all. I have spoken with several logging companies so that we have log trucks available if we have wide spread trees down. Today we will be checking all our catch basins and culverts to make sure they will be able to handle the rainfall that is coming. When we head home today we will be as ready as we can be for whatever is coming.
My best guess right now, we will begin to see rain on Saturday afternoon, it will turn eavy overnight Saturday/early Sunday morning. I am expecting Sunday to be a washout, with increasing wind and rain as the day goes on. The actual track of the storm will dictate how much wind and how much rain and actual timing of all these events. Sunday will be a great day to stay home, watch a movie, play a game, or read a good book. As the day progress's the potential for roads closed due to trees down or washouts will increase.
I am anticipating my crew will be out sometime on Saturday evening and will remain out during the storm. If the wind gets too severe we will be coordinating our response with the Fire Department to handle all emergency calls that come in. If this were to happen all our coordinating efforts will be happening at the Fire Station Command Center, which is the town's Emergency Operations Center.
A few things to keep in mind if this storm does bring widespread havoc to us.
- Treat all downed power lines as if they are live lines. We do not have the ability to tell if a wire is live or not and they carry anywhere from 4000 volts to 20,000 volts. An improperly installed generator can back feed a power line and kill you..... even when you know the power is off in your home.
- We will not be removing trees on lines until the power company has informed us that we can do so safely. This can delay our response to clearing the roads. Don't try to be a neighborhood hero, wait for the professionals to make sure the line is dead.
- Be prepared to encounter flooded roads or washed out culverts. Never drive through a flooded road. There is no telling how much damage the water has done to the road, or how deep the water really is. Our Fire Department does not need to be performing rescue operations in swift water because someone thought they could pass through the flooded road. This places our emergency personnel in too much danger, nothing is that important that you must get to the other side, if it was it should have been done before the storm hit.
- Our hills are going to be very vulnerable to washouts if we get tropical rains of 4-8 inches. Washouts are not just for the low lying areas.
- IF we get widespread trees down our cleanup efforts will be from the Fire Station out. We will be working our way around by main roads, then side streets. Known medical needs of residents as well as emergency calls will be prioritized.
- Everyone should be prepared to handle 2 to 3 days on their own, It may take that long to open all roads. We strive for 1 lane passable on all major road within 24 hours, all roads 1 lane passable within 48 hours. Much of this depends on the response from the electric utility. Outlying areas are the hardest to reach as many of them have only 1 way in and 1 way out. We have 50 miles of road, it will take time to open them all up, it will take even longer to clean them all up.
- Please check on your neighbors, especially the elderly or ones with medical needs. Don't forget to learn something from your elderly neighbors, they have been through this many times and have picked up a lot of tricks over the years.
- Fill your bath tub before the wind really gets going. That water can be used for many chores around the house. Pick up all objects outside that cannot sustain a 70-100 mph wind. Patio furniture can do a lot of
damage in a short amount of time. Fill your gas grill tank, make sure all your cars have full tanks of fuel. Don't stock up on ice cream, it will melt if the power goes out and that would be a shame.
- I will send out an update sometime mid-morning on Saturday. I will continue to update throughout the storm, as long as I am able to have internet or cell service. Being prepared now is the best defense we can all have if this does in fact become a widespread weather event. There is a lot that can change in the next 24 to 48 hours, stay tuned to your local weather station to monitor the changes.
Have a great weekend,
Kurtis J Grassett, Director of Public Works
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