NEW HAVEN, Conn. — On Connecticut's coast, they're prepping for high winds, flooding, and a big temperature drop, all coming with a mix of challenges.
"Number one is high winds, number two is flooding, and number three is freezing,” said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.
Mayor Elicker and his emergency crews are watching those three things closely. Especially in low-lying areas, where they normally see flooding.
"Today's high tide looked about a foot higher than normal. tonight, we'll probably see an additional foot and then tomorrow, we'll make it to three feet,” said Rick Fontana, emergency services director for New Haven.
But you won't see waves crashing onto homes. In New Haven, the problem really comes with the infrastructure.
"Because our stormwater system relies on gravity to get rid of the water when the tide goes up, we have a lot of low-lying areas in new haven. and there's rain, the water cannot leave,” Elicker said.
But they hope that water does leave before the temperatures drop. Otherwise, there could be a flash freeze.
"We're hoping that the rain stops earlier tomorrow. and with that, and with that, hopefully, dry up the streets before that cold weather comes,” Fontana said.
The public works crews in Milford have the same concern. They’ve been prepping for two days.
"Cleaning the catch basins, going through the saws, chippers, just getting ready, getting the equipment ready in case we have to move sand away from the shore,” said Milford's Highway/Parks Foreman Thomas Hunt.
A shore that's prone to flooding and if the water rises too high, an alarm system will go off...asking everyone to leave.
"If the horns are going off to go to higher ground, please just go to higher ground, don't wait,” Hunt said.
New Haven is also activating its cold weather protocol, opening warming centers up for 24 hours starting Friday night.
Those locations can be found below:
Name: Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK)
Phone: 475-227-3009
Address: 266 State Street, New Haven, CT
Name: Upon this Rock
Phone: 203-715-9996
Address: 882 Grand Avenue, New Haven, CT
Name: 180 Center
Phone: 203-815-7289
Address: 438 East Street, New Haven, CT
Name: Varick Memorial
Phone: 203-645-7361
Address: 242 Dixwell, New Haven, CT
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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