Individual Preparedness is Key, Wayland Town Officials Stress

Representatives from Wayland’s police and fire departments, Department of Public Works, town administrator’s office and others met this morning to discuss the town’s preparedness for Hurricane Irene.

Doug Leard, chair of the Local Emergency Planning Committee, said a primary topic at that meeting was communication.

“If we do lose all phones and communication, how do we get to people?” he said they discussed. “Hopefully, the winds aren’t going to be so strong that we’re going to lose cell towers. But if something happens, how do we communicate to the public? If we lose cable, cell phones, telephone lines, getting information out to the public is a problem, hence the need for individual preparation.”

Leard stressed that it’s difficult to know exactly what to expect when Hurricane Irene blows through Wayland, so the best course of action is to prepare for the worst.

“We don’t know what we’re going to get until we get it,” Leard said. “The best suggestion is for you to prepare for the worst. If you do more than you need to, than oh well.”

He said the biggest mistake people make in the days preceding an event like Irene is assuming, “It won’t happen to me.”

While Wayland’s police and fire services are excellent, Leard said, services during major events “get taxed to their limit.” That means that it can take longer for emergency personnel to respond when calls are placed in the midst of a major event.
 
Current forecasts put Wayland on the east side, the wind side, of the hurricane’s path, but, Leard pointed out, “this is a big storm so we’re probably going to get some significant rain as well.”

“As a community, I think we’re pretty prepared,” Leard said, noting that town officials are aware of particularly vulnerable places in town – such as Pelham Island Road – and will be watching those spots carefully.

“[It’s] certainly a community-wide effort,” he said. “But personal preparation plans within the family [are critical] ... it’s all personal planning.”

Town officials are continuing to take part in conference calls with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and are responding as needed to the information provided in those calls.

Tips to prepare are published earlier on Patch or through the Wayland Local Emergency Planning Committee website.