A Year Later, Storm Irene Blows In Winds Of Change

Is Branford prepared for another big storm?

“We’re about as ready as we can be,” said Branford First Selectman Anthony ​“Unk” DaRos. ​“We learned a few things from the other one.”

It’s been one year since Tropical Storm Irene ripped through Connecticut, downing trees, flooding homes, destroying roads, and knocking out power for more than a week in Branford and along the shoreline. Today Gov. Dannel P. Malloy visits East Haven, one of the hardest hit of the shorelines areas. 

“We were more vulnerable than people thought,” DaRos said, recalling how power companies failed to realize how long it would take to restore power.

Town engineer Janice Plaziak said nearly 200 Branford homes were damaged, and five sustained substantial damage. Director of Finance Jim Finch said the town’s total storm expenditures, including damage to infrastructure, totalled $1,052,197. That does not include expenses sustained by individual property owners who found that insurance didn’t cover many losses.

But the tropical storm also blew in the winds of change.

“As awful as Irene was, it wound up being something of a gift. The storm exposed dangerous vulnerabilities in our electric and communications systems and revealed the growing challenges presented by rising seas,” state Rep. Lonnie Reed (D‑Branford) told the Eagle.

“Irene was a call to action and we answered with a tough new Storm Response Law that demands stronger oversight, much better maintenance and multimillion dollar fines. The law also mandates back up generation plans to prevent cell phones and internet systems from failing as often as they did during both Irene and the October storm,” said Reed, who is vice chair of the Energy and Technology Committee and founder and co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus.

Some of the post-Irene changes include:

• Branford joined towns statewide earlier this month to hold a Category 3 hurricane drill.

• As part of the South Central Regional Council of Governments, Branford is beginning a hazard mitigation study to identify vulnerable areas for various disasters. 

• The state enacted storm preparedness legislation and created a Shoreline Preservation Task Force. 

PICKING UP THE PIECES

It may be one year since Irene hit, but many people are still piecing their lives back together.

“It hasn’t ended yet in terms of the repairs,” said Plaziak, the town’s engineer. ​“It’s been busy over the past year. Some of the damages are minor some are substantial.” Slowly the homes on the Beckett Avenue beach have re-emerged.

Plaziak, who also serves as the flood plain manager, can issue a substantial damage certificate if a home sustained flood damages exceeding 50 percent of its value. If so, the property owner can qualify for up to $30,000 in flood insurance money to help bring the home into compliance, such as elevating the structure, instead of just making repairs.

Five homes in Branford sustained substantial damage in Irene: two Thimble Island homes, two in the Hotchkiss Grove area, and one on Ark Road. Plaziak said a possible designation for a home in Pine Orchard is still pending.

As the flood plain manager, Plaziak deals only with flood damages, not homes damaged by winds. Structures like sea walls, which are not covered by insurance, are under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

She said one reason home repairs are taking so long is because people are having issues with insurance claims.

The Short Beach area of Branford, especially Beckett Avenue, took a beating from Irene. Click here to read that story.

Dr. Collin Watson and his wife Severine and their two young sons live in a raised ranch at the bottom of a steep hill on Beckett Avenue, about a half block from the sea.

After the hurricane the couple learned a lot about definitions. When Irene roared across the sea at high tide, ripping sea walls and pouring sea water into their Beckett Avenue home, it ruined their landscaping and left a high water mark in their living room that was higher than waist high. 

Then they learned that no, this was not their first floor, according to their insurance carrier and FEMA, this was their basement. According to the town it was not a basement, but the first floor of their raised ranch. It looked like a living room when the Eagle visited the home last year after the tropical storm. See photo above. The difference in definitions meant a difference in compensation. 

In a recent interview with the Eagle, Dr. Watson described the insurance process as ​“pretty grueling. They say they represent you but they want to keep the money and not give you your money.” There were long negotiations. ​“You have to have multiple estimates. The insurance company does its own. Then you need approval from the town before you can begin to rebuild.”

In the end, Dr. Watson said the insurance carrier paid for a portion of the repairs to their living room, now a bedroom, and landscaping, but they still had hefty out-of-pocket expenses. 

Dr. Watson, who practices internal medicine in West Haven, said one unexpected consequence of the storm was that the salt water killed all the neighborhood worms. ​“We had hundreds of dead worms all over the area,” he said. The family appreciates worms because, as he said, ​“they are wonderful for keeping things in check, especially in compost heaps.”

He said his mother, who lives in an area where worms are in full supply, decided to help her son ​“re-wormify our area. I just made up that word,” he added. ​“She has given us bags and buckets of worms to throw in the compost heap in the yard.”
 
He said his family never gave a minute’s thought to moving to a different area, far from the sea. ​“This neighborhood is too great to leave it.”

Another Beckett Avenue couple, Bruce and Mary Nichol, were finally able to return to their summer home a few weeks ago after months of reconstruction. Nichol said homeowners insurance covered the roof damage because it was caused by wind, but it didn’t cover water damage. 

“We had to rebuild a whole new porch (see photo below) from one end to the other. We had to come up with the money out of our pockets because we did not have flood insurance,” he told the Eagle. ​“We funded it out of our rainy day fund, our savings. It was rough for senior citizens. We have had the house quite a long time and we enjoy it so much.” FEMA did not help, he said, because this was a second home.

Nichol was living in Short Beach during the 1938 hurricane and he and his wife have weathered many major storms and Nor’easters in their home that was built in 1870. ​“All those years the storms came at off-tide,” he said. ​“This storm came not only at a high tide but also when the moon was right. The storm went right over the sea wall.” But not last year.

Nichol said they never purchased flood insurance because of its high cost and because, based on history, most of the storms came at lower tide. He said he and and wife are just happy to be back. 

Across town, that same storm surge wiped out a portion of Linden Avenue, nearly stranding 400 families who live on the peninsula in the Indian Neck and Pawson Park neighborhoods. The town took quick action to repair the road. Click here to read about the road collapse.

“The damage to Linden Avenue was the number one impacted infrastructure in the town,” Plaziak said. The cost to repair Linden Avenue was $436,420.

The storm took a toll on the town’s coffers, but the costs were partially offset by federal funds. Finance Director Jim Finch said FEMA paid $580,600, which is 55 percent of the town’s total storm costs of $1,052,197. The town paid $243,220; the town’s insurance carriers paid $172,377; and the Linden Shores District committed $56,000 toward the Linden Avenue project.

LESSONS FROM A HURRICANE DRILL AND FROM IRENE

The state’s Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security organized the statewide Category 3 hurricane drill in early August to examine pre-storm preparedness and post-storm recovery. Branford town officials and 23 department heads met at the local Emergency Operations Center at the police station to discuss evacuation routes, shelters, water and food distribution, and debris management.

“A category 3 is probably the most catastrophic storm that could be in our area because the population is so heavy around Long Island Sound,” DaRos told the Eagle. “It was a good drill.”

Learning from Irene, Branford’s department heads had a variety of suggestions for residents: Joyce Forte, the head of human services, said “Take as many photos as possible for claims purposes,” adding “Also take the water level.” Plaziak said: “Don’t swim in the flood water. Laura Burban, the head of Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter, added: “Nor should dogs swim in flood water.”

Many remembered how many wheel chair residents lined up at Town Hall and the Police Department in need of batteries. “We didn’t realize immediately that it would be a problem,” DaRos said. “Now we know.”

Information about storm preparedness, evacuation routes, etc., can be found by clicking on the Emergency Management link on the Branford Police Web site.

DaRos said at least 4,200 Branford residents would have to be evacuated in the event of a major hurricane. The local schools are traditionally used as evacuation shelters, but some are in flood plains, so buildings like Mary Murphy Elementary School would be used since it is on higher ground.

Also attending the session was David Ferrante from CL&P, who has been assigned as Branford’s permanent liaison. The lack of utility liaisons who were familiar with each town was one of the problems targeted last year. 

DaRos told the Eagle said the lack of accurate information from power companies during Irene impeded the town’s recovery efforts. He also said people were not prepared for the interruption to cell service.

“We didn’t expect cell power to fail so miserably,” DaRos said. “Power being out is bad. Communications being out is critical.”

Click here to read a story about Irene’s impact on communications.

One major change in Branford this year has been the installation of a town-owned and operated fiber optic system that provides a faster and more reliable communication network. The system connects Town Hall, the police and fire departments and the school district. The main service provider for Town Hall during Irene was Comcast, which was not operational. That meant the town’s Web site could not be accessed. 

Peter Hugret, the recently retired Director of Information Technology, said work will be finalized this summer to reduce the town’s three data centers to two, a plan that began in 2009.The data center at Town Hall will be eliminated and operations will be centralized at the high school and at the police station, which each have permanent generators. Town Hall does not have a permanent generator. Hugret has recently been recommended to replace Kurt Schwanfelder on the police commission. 

Another change since last summer is the completion of the Branford’s new Fire Headquarters, with state-of-the-art emergency equipment. In addition, larger generators have been purchased for the outlying fire stations to replace the smaller ones that were problematic during Irene.

HAZARD MITIGATION

Branford is just beginning a project to identify the potential impact of hazards like floods, earthquakes, fires and chemical releases. The Hazard Mitigation Plan is part of a regional project with the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG.) Branford is a member.

A consultant has been hired to help identify vulnerable areas and determine how to mitigate the hazards.

“They look at every type of hazard a community could face and look at some mitigation that could be possible,” Plaziak said.

Public hearings will be held for residents to offer input for their neighborhoods.

Once the study is complete, towns can request money from FEMA to initiate mitigation projects to lessen any potential hazard impacts.

THE STATE TAKES ACTION

Tropical Storm Irene and the late October snowstorm that once again knocked out electricity across the state, were a call to action for state officials.  Gov. Malloy convened a Two Storm Panel to investigate and conduct hearings, and the legislature passed the multi-faceted Storm Response Law.

“With these changes, we will institute tougher standards for utility companies and improve communication and training for state and local officials,” Malloy said after the bill was passed in May.  “We will also make necessary investments at the local level in new technology like microgrids, allowing our state to embrace a 21st Century solution to an age old problem. We can’t know exactly what emergency is coming next, but we can learn from past experience and improve.”

Click here to read a story in The Ct Mirror about the bill’s passage.

“The Governor, the Energy and Technology Committee and the legislature rose to the occasion and I was proud to play a key role in the negotiations,” said Reed, who helped craft the storm response legislation.

State Sen. Ed Meyer (D‑Guilford) met with local officials and residents in Short Beach last Thursday to talk about new legislation that has been enacted since Irene.

Meyer, who chairs the Senate’s Environment Committee, helped lead passage of the Coastal Management Bill, which was signed into law in June. ​“This legislation strikes a balance between preparing for future hurricanes and rising sea levels, while at the same time protecting property owners’ rights,” Meyer said.

Meyer, Reed and State Rep. Pat Widlitz, who represents Guilford and Branford, are members of the recently formed Shoreline Preservation Task Force, which is studying the effects of rising seas, climate changes and extreme storm events. The 21-member panel held a public hearing in Branford in July to listen to residents’ ideas and to discuss what steps local and state officials can take. They will report their findings in the next legislative session. Click here to read a story about the Branford hearing,

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