Hurricane Irene damage extends NCPS opening to September 6th

Kate Howard and Lily Kazemi
News Editors

On Saturday, August 27, Hurricane Irene hit Connecticut, causing one of the greatest power outages the state has ever seen. According to the New York Post, the storm, which started in Puerto Rico almost a week before it hit here, left nearly 6.7 million people in thirteen states without power. The power of New Canaan residents was promised to be restored by Tuesday night.

In anticipation for the storm, many New Canaan residents took precautions by visiting local stores to stock up on supplies. “With all the news about Hurricane Irene, I thought it was important to make sure that my family was prepared for whatever might happen,” junior Kate Weisenseel said. “We made sure we charged our phones and computers, just in case the power went out, and we also went shopping for groceries, just in case we couldn’t get out of the house.”

Due to the hurricane warning, sophomore Annie Ludtke’s family also followed the advice of officials and made necessary provisions. “We prepared for Irene by fixing out generator and stocking up on supplies. We also charged all of our electronics and filled up the car with gas,” Annie said.

Although junior Harrison Besser bought cases of water bottles and moved his outside furniture indoors, he believed people overdramatized the whole situation. “I think everybody overreacted about the hurricane,” he said. “I understand that we aren’t hurricane people per say, but it doesn’t seem like the entire world is going to end. I went to bed Saturday night and woke up Sunday morning and the only thing that I noticed was the power was out and trees were down.”

Senior Katherine Moncure agreed with Harrison. “Just looking at it, the storm didn’t seem as bad as it actually was,” she said. “Since a bulk of it came during the night, most of what I actually saw was wind, but I don’t think Connecticut or New Canaan ever had this much power out. I didn’t see what I expected to see, and I thought that it physically was going to be much worse.”

The town has been helping residents who don’t have power in numerous ways. The YMCA provided hot showers for residents without water while the library extended its usual hours of operation from 8 to 10 pm every night. A free lunch was also served at the high school on Friday, Sept. 2, for powerless residents.

Nick Howard, a recent NCHS graduate who volunteered at the New Canaan Office of Emergency Management created a Facebook page to post all pertinent information for those who had access to it. “It has been an invaluable resource,” he  said. “It’s amazing something so simple can be utilized in such a great fashion.” He said another useful tool created with this social media site was a Google map that illustrated what roads were impassible due to the storm.

During this natural disaster, many residents were impressed at the real time updates provided and quick responses to their questions. “The town has been very good at communicating and providing services quickly and efficiently. They are keeping me in the know,” junior Will Hennessy said.

However, junior Jackie Cloud said the restoration process has been long and drawn out. “I am frustrated because the hurricane was overrated and the restoration process has been way too slow,” she said. “I had to go to a hotel because of the power loss and after being there for a couple of days, I just want everything to be fixed.”

Senior Caroline Murray said she has been impatient as well, especially with school cancelations and the postponement of the senior picnic. “The actual storm wasn’t that bad but the after effects are getting annoying. I feel like I have just been playing a waiting game this past week,” she said.

For Quinn, the dangers of the storm still haven’t passed. “We haven’t had power, water, cable or internet for three days now,” she said. “On the morning of the storm, we have these two big oak trees in our front yard, they are about 4 feet in diameter and 100 feet tall, they are really old oak trees and they both fell in opposite directions. You could here these giant thuds, it was scary. One of them only fell a couple of feet from our house.”

With the majority of town out of power, many found alternate ways to keep themselves entertained. “After both my computer and iPod ran out of power, I was forced to do something I had not done in a while. Read,” sophomore Andrew Penchuk said.

Due to the power loss, New Canaan’s Library’s Executive Director Alice Knapp said there has been lots of Wi-Fi traffic, which has put a strain on their systems, as more people have visited the library. “For us, we really had to stretch our brains to make it more stable and we have been working to make it stable. We added a couple of more hubs for convenience,” Ms. Knapp said. She further said they have been busy with almost twice as much people charging up their electronics and checking out books and DVDs.

According to Ms. Knapp, the library lately has served as a meeting center. “The library essentially has become a place where people come for conversation and communication. People would exchange stories about the storm and would talk about what was going on in their streets,” she said.

After hearing the announcement that school will start tomorrow, NCHS students have mixed feelings with the delayed school start. “I am really excited to have an extra week of summer vacation. But I am kind of worried that because we had so many snow storms last year, the same might happen again and school might end later,” sophomore Jackie Millisits said.