hard deadlines

Portsmouth Patch is reporting that Portsmouth has ordered an evacuation of Island Park and Common Fence Point at 4pm Saturday, with shelter available at the Portsmouth Middle School. Just checked at Town Hall, to try to confirm, but it was locked up like a usual Friday afternoon.

There's nothing posted on the Town web site, but you can find some shelter info there, and you can get more state-level info at the RI Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA).

The best source for non-hyperbolic forecasts is, as always, Weather Underground, which has an excellent page of resources.

This morning's advisory from the National Hurricane Center has downgraded Irene to Category 1, but it is still forecast to "remain a hurricane" as it moves toward New England.

The 11am forecast from the National Hurricane Center forecasts a "slight weakening" as Irene makes landfall in North Carolina, with a newly hedged prediction of "near hurricane strength" as it moves toward New England.

You certainly wouldn't know that if you're watching TV coverage on places like the Weather Channel, which is engaging in what media critic Jeff Jarvis yesterday dubbed "stormporn." I love how, over the past day, they've spun completely around on categories, and now keep pointing out that categories don't matter.

In fact, I would blame the Weather Channel for the Island Park evacuation, if I wasn't sure that it was secretly a plot by a shadowy cabal of developers (assisted by people we USED to like on the Council) to get the residents out so they can slip arsenic into our precious bodily fluids. Who will stand up to these evil forces (you'll notice that the first blast of wind from Irene will blow to the LEFT). Maybe Larry can set up a new committee...

But I digress. Please follow responsible sources of information and take all appropriate steps to stay safe.

I'm all for being safe rather than sorry, but just to look at some data, surf on over to the Storm Surge page on the National Hurricane Center site and zoom in to Portsmouth.

There is only a 5-10% chance of a storm surge that exceeds 6 feet, and a <5% chance of a surge hitting 7 feet. Yes, Park Avenue is going to be flooded, but it does that in a heavy rain.

Are Portsmouth Emergency Management officials looking at the data, or the Weather Channel?

The latest update from the National Hurricane Center has Irene packing winds of 80mph and forecast to move up the coast slightly faster.

We've moved our HQ to a spacious room at the Middletown Howard Johnsons, at 170 feet above sea level. Ran into one of our Island Park neighbors while we were checking in, who summed up the situation perfectly: "I don't want to be the person on my roof on the six o'clock news."

I'll be back and forth checking on the situation around town, but it's reassuring to know that Karen and Jack have a safe place to sleep. Hope you all have the same.

The Portsmouth evacuation center at the Middle School was nearly empty when we stopped by to check; the official count was three people.

"We can accommodate 350," said shelter manager Charlie Fitzpatrick. "We'll be open all night through at least 8am Monday." He urged residents who might need shelter not to wait too long. "The sooner, the better," he said. "And bring a book or something to do -- it can get boring."

Portsmouth school committee member Thomas Vadney was also volunteering at the shelter. "I've been here since about noon," he said. Also there when we stopped by were State Rep Dan Reilly (R-72) and Town Council member Judi Staven.

Staven was sure that the shelter would be filling up later. "When the wind whips up, they'll start coming in."

Island Park, nominally under a "mandatory" evacuation, showed little evidence tonight that people were taking the town's edict seriously — or that it was being enforced.

A drive through the streets around Flo's found many houses with lights on and TVs running (and at least one party loud enough to be heard a block away). Down at the seawall, a group of young men in bathing suits were taking a late night dip.

If anyone asks why I'm here tonight, I'll wave my press credentials. But I'm not expecting a knock on the door.

Only sporadic bursts of rain so far in Portsmouth, but the wind has pushed the Sakonnet River right up to the Island Park seawall, and waves are crashing over near the intersection of Boyd's Lane.

Elsewhere, the streets are still calm. There are a lot of leaves down, and one tree branch blocking the eastbound exit ramp from Rt. 24 to Boyd's Lane, but generally the streets are clear. Power is still on in Island Park, and there was a small group of residents and sightseers on Park Ave to watch the waves.

Big jump in wind velocity here in Island Park, and the with high tide, water is now coming through and over the seawall and beginning to flood Park Ave.

Heavy wind and rain in Island Park — lost power for a couple of minutes — shot this from Gormley and Park Ave, where the water is ankle-deep and waves are crashing over the seawall. There's a Portsmouth police car stationed down Park Ave — you can see the flashers in the center of the video — to keep people from driving through the flooded section.

Power still out across Portsmouth. While Park Ave remains impassible, the back route up Riverside to Cove is still clear, and a drive around town showed that, at least based on what was visible from East Main Road, damage seemed to be relatively light.

Okay, I'm guessing that the owners of the sailboat that fetched up on the beach at Island Park would disagree.

There are leaves and many small branches down, with an occasional branch taking out one lane of EMR, including a spot by Glen Park where a tree hpad come down across utility poles on the northbound lane, blocked now by crews in a bucket truck.

The storm is over, the power is back on (at least for Island Park — our thoughts are with the folks throughout Portsmouth and the Northeast still struggling) and the Sakonnet is back where it's supposed to be.

Saw this coming down into the Park tonight and just wanted to share a moment of gratitude for what we have and all the people who make it possible. Especially the public safety workers like the Portsmouth Fire and Police who kept us safe over the weekend, the Red Cross volunteers who pitched in at emergency shelters, and the National Grid and other utility workers who put the jigsaw puzzle back together today.

Thank you.

According to an e-mail sent this afternoon by interim Town Administrator David Dolce, a meeting to review Portsmouth's response to Hurricane Irene "is already being planned."

Dolce's e-mail was in response to a note sent to the Town Council by resident Doug Smith — which cc'd hard deadlines — asking for a "lessons learned" session and the opportunity for public input. "Now is the ideal time to do a post-mortem of the town's response to the storm and to get us better prepared for the next one," Smith said in his e-mail.

I'll post details as they develop.

Full disclosure: I live in the Island Park section of Portsmouth and was the subject of a mandatory evacuation order that I learned about on Facebook.

Newport This Week (NTW) (the print companion of NewportNow.com) features comments from this editor in their wrapup of social media use around Hurricane Irene. If you can't grab a free copy at the many locations around the island, there's an online version here.

The story focuses on how citizens (and local businesses, and even National Grid) used social media to keep friends and neighbors informed, while governments like Newport and Portsmouth did not.

"I don't know about other towns, but Portsmouth did a lamentably poor job at communicating, specifically with residents in my neighborhood," said Portsmouth resident and local blogger John McDaid.

As McDaid, who pens the blog HardDeadlines.com, notes, Island Park was the subject of a "mandatory" evacuation order. "I learned about that on Facebook," he said, "And not even from the Town of Portsmouth, which doesn't even HAVE a Facebook presence."

Instead, the town posted a notice on its municipal website, which he said, "is not a place I typically go for breaking news."

And do you know WHY Portsmouth has no presence on Facebook? According to an e-mail earlier this year from former Town Administrator Bob Driscoll, because our IT consultant nixed it over to security concerns. I have a query in to Facebook.com for their official response, and I intend to follow up with new Town Admin David Dolce.

NTW even gave me the kicker:

Concluded Portsmouth's McDaid: "I consider it a missed opportunity — to say the least — that local government and emergency response did not take advantage of social media during this critical time. While I think our community-based media performed admirably — and everyday friends and citizens stepped up to keep each other informed — the lack of any official word was troubling."

When I say community-based media, I'm explicitly thanking Portsmouth Patch and Newport Now, who were both out there on Twitter and Facebook. I spent the weekend refreshing feeds on my iPhone (plugged into the car charger) and that was how I kept up with the big picture.

And another big thank you to all my friends and neighbors in Portsmouth who kept posting what they were seeing. We kept each other in the loop, even if the Town didn't.

The Portsmouth Economic Development Committee (PEDC) announced a new online survey of residents on the Town's response to Irene. They announced it on Facebook, where they have a presence — unlike the Town, which appears to rely on courier pigeons and precognition to warn people about things like mandatory evacuations. From the Facebook post:

What is your opinion of the town's response to Hurricane Irene? Some have called the town's public information operation totally inadequate. What do you think?

Take the new PEDC survey

Editorial note: The reference to "some" in their post almost certainly includes me, and I just want to be very clear: the Police, Fire, and DPW were out there doing their job; it was the communication and leadership from elected officials that I felt "lamentably poor."

To: Portsmouth Town Council, krizicl@portsmouthschoolsri.org, cynthia.perrotti@gmail.com
Cc: sandy@patch.com, johnson@newportri.com, sakonnet@eastbaynewspapers.com, rep-jay70@cox.net
Subject: Island Park flooding and school bus safety
Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:05:41 -0400

To the Town Council:
This morning, for the second time this week, heavy rains flooded Park Ave in Island Park, forcing schoolchildren to wade through ankle-deep water to board buses. On Tuesday, the streets were so impassable I had to use the Escape Bridge to drive my son to school.

Here's a photo from today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmcdaid/6119653033/in/photostream

And one from Tuesday:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmcdaid/6119653033/in/photostream/

While such flooding is not a new issue (Channel 12 reported on it back in December of 2009: http://www.torvex.com/jmcdaid/node/1213) it's not clear to me whether things have suddenly gotten worse, perhaps because Irene contributed to blockages in the stormwater drains.

Whatever the cause, I would appreciate it if the Town Council could investigate this issue affecting the safety of Island Park residents and our children.

I'm cc'ing school Supt. Dr. Krizic and School Committee chair Cynthia Perrotti so that they're aware of the situation, and copying in local media and Jay Edwards, our state rep.

Best Regards.
-John

Full disclosure: I'm annoyed.