Sunday, August 28, 2011; 9:00AM
MANCHESTER, VT - The Town of Manchester announced Sunday morning that it establishing an Emergency Operation Center (EOC) to coordinate the Town's response to Hurricane Irene. An Emergency Operations Center is essentially a central command responsible for coordinating a response to an emergency across multiple Town departments.
Earlier this weekend the Town placed all emergency and affected personnel, including employees of the Police Department, Fire Department, Department of Public Works, Water and Sewer Departments and necessary administrative staff, in an "on-call" status. In addition, as a result of the storm, the Police Department has scheduled additional staff to work during the storm.
Police Department Lieutenant Michael Hall has been named Incident Commander by Town Manager John O'Keefe. Lt. Hall will be stationed at the EOC. The EOC will also include Police Chief James Baker, Emergency Communications Director Bob Mattison, Town Planning Director Lee Krohn, Emergency Management Coordinator Richard Holms and Town Manager John O'Keefe.
Fire Chief Philip Bourn has been named Operations Section Chief, tasked with managing the Town's overall field operations. Asst. Chief Chris Towslee will serve as acting Fire Chief during the Hurricane and Cpl. PJ Owens will coordinate the Police Department's response. Department of Public Works Director Jeff Williams will manage the response for the DPW and Water and Sewer Departments.
"Our response is based on years of preparation, planning and training. Town staff deserve a lot credit for making sure that we are well prepared," said Ivan C. Beattie, chair of the Selectboard. "We are planning for the worst, and hoping for the best. Either way, we are ready and have our best people positioned to lead our response."
The Town is preparing to open an emergency shelter, if necessary, at Town Hall. In the event of a power outage, Town Hall is served by an emergency power generator and is stocked with food necessary to feed any evacuees. The Lions Club, along with Town staff, will run the shelter.
Residents are strongly urged to stay in their homes during the storm, stay away from downed power lines and report any storm related events to the Town's 24 hour emergency Dispatch Center at
802-362-2121 or 911. Downed power lines, falling trees and airborne debris can cause serious and life threatening conditions.
During the storm the Town will distribute updates via press release as necessary.
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