Governor Carcieri sent a letter in October to 21 cities and towns asking for details on their plans for a severe hurricane.
Their answers were mixed.
The responses that local emergency management directors sent to state Emergency Management Agency Director Robert J. Warren over the last several months show a range of hurricane preparedness. The Journal obtained copies of nearly all of the letters from the communities and from the state EMA.
Most estimate how many people will need to be evacuated, and how the communities will publicize an evacuation order and help people -- including those with special needs, such as the elderly or disabled -- to leave.
Some communities also identify their shelters, but only a handful are certified by the Red Cross for hurricanes..
The Red Cross has new standards for hurricane shelters; its review of existing shelters in Rhode Island revealed that only nine meet the specifications. Those shelters are: Middletown High School and Joseph H. Gaudet Middle School, in Middletown; Wickford Middle School, in North Kingstown; Portsmouth High School; Narragansett Pier Middle School; Tiverton Middle School; South Kingstown Senior High School; East Greenwich High School and Chariho Middle School, in Richmond.
Here are summaries of how local communities characterized their hurricane plans:
Barrington: There are about 12,000 people living in the town's designated evacuation area, wrote harbormaster Raymond J. Sousa, but it's unknown how many would go stay with relatives and friends, find other accommodations, or refuse an evacuation order. He estimated that between 500 to 2,000 people would seek to stay in a public hurricane shelter.
The town would alert people to an evacuation through the media and by sending police into endangered neighborhoods to warn people and move out those with special needs. The town is currently updating its list of elderly residents, but group homes and assisted living facilities have been verified for evacuation.
There are currently no Red Cross-certified hurricane shelters, so the town has verbal agreements to send its evacuees to East Providence, Seekonk, and Rehoboth. There are more than 30 volunteers trained to to be a member of a Community Emergency Response Team.
A task force headed by Town Manager Peter DeAngelis meets on a weekly basis to complete the town's hurricane plan. They've identified several resources they need, such as a Reverse 911 system for notifications and two generators for two new hurricane shelters they hope to add in town buildings.
Sousa said they also want the state EMA to sponsor another class for the Hurrivac computer program and to run a statewide tabletop exercise on hurricanes next spring.
Bristol: Although the governor's office says it has not received a plan from Bristol, the town has identified a hurricane evacuation route and has submitted a map of the route to the state EMA, according to Bristol EMA director James Morreira. He said he must still decide where evacuation signs would be located along the route. When that is completed, the map will ready to release to the public.
Town officials have reviewed the Bristol flood zone map and are putting together a list of how many people live in low-lying areas that could be flooded during a hurricane. Morreira estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 people may need to be evacuated from these areas in case of a major hurricane. Although it is not on the state-certified list, a shelter is located at Franklin Court, 160 Franklin St.
The town is working with assisted living facilities and group homes to update plans for evacuating elderly residents and those with special needs. Officials are also working with Roger Williams University on evacuation plans for its students.
Little Compton: There would be 1,200 people -- about a third of the town's population -- who would need to be evacuated from a Category 4 hurricane. Town EMA director Robert L. Mushen wrote that while the mass media, Internet and weather radios play a large role in publicizing hurricanes, some people would be unaware of the approaching storm. He said the town will consider other methods, including: public address systems; activating sirens and emergency alert systems; sending press releases instructing people what to do; identifying opened shelters and pickup times for evacuations; sending out notices when facilities are filled; and informing bordering communities about the town's plans. The lone shelter is the Wilbur McMahon School in the Commons, which is easily accessible, Mushen wrote. (The school is not listed as a certified hurricane shelter by the Red Cross.)
The Police Department keeps a confidential list of residents with special needs, Mushen wrote. The town's flood zone maps, along with the recent FEMA flood map modernization program questionnaire and Homeland Security national flood insurance program reports, are reviewed.
Middletown: Fire Chief Stephen P. Martin said last week that he would be sending the town's plan to the state EMA in the next few days. He said he would not release the letter until the plan has been approved by the state. The Joseph H. Gaudet Middle School, on Aquidneck Avenue, and Middletown High School, on Valley Road, are both Red Cross-certified hurricane shelters.
Newport: Fire Chief Edward McCarthy, who is the city's EMA director, refused to give The Journal any information sent to the state EMA. Meanwhile, the state EMA director said last week that Newport hadn't responded to the governor's letter. Newport has no hurricane shelters and will need to direct evacuees to Middletown.
Portsmouth: The town is updating its hurricane plan to include some new housing and new technology, according to the town's letter to the EMA. There are about 17,149 people living in areas that could be affected by a hurricane, but the town estimates that a little over half of them would evacuate. Of those, possibly 5 percent, or 858 people, would evacuate to local shelters. With that, the town estimates that it will need a 12-hour evacuation period for the number of vehicles leaving Portsmouth.
Portsmouth has run hurricane scenarios through the flood zone maps, so it is very familiar with the flood zones in Island Park and Common Fence Point. The entire evacuation plan is built around ensuring that these neighborhoods are evacuated first and checked by public safety officials before the storm surge. The town will notify people through the media and by sending public safety vehicles into the marinas, beaches and campgrounds.
The town will need the state's help to evacuate and transport people from Prudence and Hog Islands. The town doesn't have the equipment needed to evacuate the residents from those islands, and the only way of getting people off Prudence Island is by the privately owned Bristol Ferry. The town will also need at least two tow trucks to remove disabled vehicles from the Sakonnet River bridge during evacuation.
Portsmouth High School is a Red Cross-certified hurricane shelter. A secondary shelter is at Portsmouth Middle School. A new high school gym can increase shelter capacity.
Tiverton: Tiverton Middle School on Quintal Drive was certified as a Red Cross hurricane shelter. The governor's office did not locate the town's letter, but former Town Administrator David A. Souza sent one Dec. 13 saying he has endorsed a plan that identifies risky areas, assesses the degree of their vulnerabilities and examines possible impacts from natural disasters.
Warren: About 6,000 people would need to be evacuated in a major hurricane, and the town has identified where special needs residents are living and what they would require. The town would notify people through the fire and police officials, cable TV, and on the radio, wrote EMA director, Fire Chief Alexander R. Galinelli.
The current hurricane plans are being updated, and the flood zone map was being reviewed to include more shelters and modified evacuation routes. The shelters that are used are easily accessible, Galinelli wrote.
With reports from staff writers Kia Hall Hayes, Michael McKinney, Rich Salit, and Steve Peoples.
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