Irene storms into region; residents dig in
As published on page one of the August 28, 2011 edition of The Keene Sentinel, and online.
By 11 a.m. on Saturday, President Barack Obama had declared Hurricane Irene's arrival in New Hampshire a pre-landfall emergency disaster.
The air in Keene was still and heavy with humidity. Flags hung straight down on flagpoles.
But as the storm marched steadily northward, local residents went about preparing for the possible onslaught of heavy rain and high winds -- even while pointing out that it might not come to anything at all.
By 1:30 in the afternoon, the atmosphere stirred with only an occasional wafting of a breeze.
At the Keene Walmart, every register was open, and lines were two or three customers deep.
Carts were full of hurricane rations and back-to-school supplies.
There wasn't a C- or D-cell battery to be found, and a dwindling pile of bottled water was placed prominently near the registers.
"Everybody in there is crazy. It's packed," Rich A. Davis of Keene said as he pushed his cart out of the fray.
Davis was stocking up on water, but said he wasn't worried about the storm.
"I'll worry when I know what to expect," he said.
Kathleen E. Summer, also of Keene, wasn't panicking either.
"I've got some extra water and extra paper towels in case the house leaks, but other than that I'm not too worried about it," she said as she left Shaw's.
Roberta A. Fraser of Winchester reported that she had stocked up on extra water and batteries, and was doing her grocery shopping for the week.
Her 6-year-old daughter Annalia is scheduled to start at Trinity Christian School in Keene when it opens after the storm.
Fraser had stocked up on "Junie B" and "Little House on the Prairie" books to read during the storm, and was looking forward to watching the water at the town beach near their home.
"I'm kind of an easy-going person so I don't stress," she said.
But in spite of these casual comments, shoppers have been descending on local stores to prepare for the possible hurricane weather.
At the Market Basket in Rindge, business picked up noticeably starting Thursday, according to Charlie T. Branch, assistant store manager.
"They're buying similar items as they do when a snowstorm hits in the winter," he said.
By 2:30, small leaves had starting blowing along the street, and those flags were waving gently.
At Home Depot in Monadnock Marketplace in Keene, a display by the door was set up with coolers, water pumps, buckets and extension cords. "Are you ready?" a sign asked.
But there were no generators. A truckload had come in just that morning, a clerk reported, but they sold out right away.
"This entire building could have been full of generators and I don't think it would have been enough."
At 5:30, word came in that the upper edge or the storm had hit New Hampshire -- it was raining in Nashua. In Keene, flags were flapping hard and small branches of trees had begun to sway.
John Kenny, Cory Degnan and Jeff Peghiny, all Keene State College students, were leaving Video Headquarters on West Street with a supply of 16 movies and video games.
"If there's no electricity it will all be for naught," Peghiny said.
They were at Hannaford earlier, where Degnan stocked up on bagels, bananas and peanut butter for sandwiches.
"I'm kind of excited," Peghiny said. "We haven't had a hurricane in a while."
Joy Dorchies, loading a last-minute stash of extra water, fruit, ice and a six-pack beer into her car in front of Hannaford, agreed.
"I love funky weather. I don't take it lightly, but I do like it," she said.
At the Recreation Center on Washington Street, four rows of cots were set up in the multi-purpose room, ready to take in evacuees.
The shelter opened officially at 6, when a dozen volunteers in red vests were going through a final briefing in the reception area.
No one had arrived yet, but the fridge in the kitchen was full with milk, yogurt, chickpea salad and tomato salad delivered from The Community Kitchen in Keene. The counter held cereal and fruit.
Karen Fabis, chief operating officer of the American Red Cross in New Hampshire, praised the experience and training of local disaster-relief volunteers.
"We are in preparedness mode. ... This is the kind of thing that really gets us jazzed up, that we'll really be able to help people and serve the community," she said.
By 6:15 the first drops of rain had begun to fall.
At 10 p.m. the eye of the hurricane was over costal Virginia, and at least nine people had died as a result of the storm.
The storm is expected to reach New Hampshire this afternoon.
tagged with: Hurricane Irene
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