WINSOR LOCKS — From travelers at the airport, to the Travelers insurance company. Both are keeping a watching eye on Hurricane Dorian as she prepares to bare down on Florida.MATT
Not expected to make landfall until Monday, Dorian will pack a punch. But on Friday at Bradley Airport there are no travel delays.
Bill Henderson of Niantic said, “Look out. Here it comes.” And that’s the sentiment. Travelers at Bradley are sounding the alarm as Hurricane Dorian sets its sight on the sunshine state.
Some people got home just in time.
“My mom forced us to come back to be honest. She didn’t want us down there,” said Matt Aranow, a University of Miami student. While others are heading toward danger to protect their property.
“Anything that’s not tied down is going to turn into a missile,” said Bill Henderson. He owns a pontoon boat. “Throw a couple of ropes on it and take down the awning and bring in the lawn furniture and all the things that need to be done before the hurricane. We know about hurricanes in Connecticut.”
And when it comes to protecting property, Travelers Insurance knows that pretty well.
Don Florek, Travelers VP Claim Catastrophe Response:
“What we see right here is a potential mock up of some wind damage. Damage that might be associated with a hurricane,” said Don Florek Travelers VP of Catastrophe Response.
Inside their National Catastrophe Center, Travelers is using state of the art technology to keep a close eye on Dorians eye.
“Using the information about the weather event itself to understand how we can respond of behalf of our customers,” said Florek.
Advice for riding out the storm includes, “Making sure that we have an evacuation or a survival kit if you will. Food, water, medications, cell phone charges and important documents,” said Florek. And remember to take pictures of your home and the things inside. “That would just facilitate and accelerate the claim process.
FOX61 also spoke on the phone Friday to officials from Eversource who said, right now, there are no plans to deploy crews to Florida but they stand by ready to assist if needed.