Current Situation:

According to the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), at 5:00 a.m. EDT, the center of Hurricane Sandy was located 15 miles east-southeast of Great Abaco Islands and/or 485 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina and moving toward the northwest at 13 mph. Maximum sustained winds decreased to near 80 mph and a minimum central pressure of 968 Mb. A decrease in forward speed is expected today, followed by a turn toward the north tonight and a turn toward the northeast on Saturday. Hurricane-force winds extend outward 35 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 275 miles.

Sandy is a Category One hurricane. A little weakening is forecast today but Sandy is expected to remain a hurricane for the next couple of days. The wind field of Sandy is expected to grow in size during the next couple of days. FEMA’s MA Incident Support Base is located at Westover Air Reserve Base and has been supplied with Initial   Response Resource packages for the state in case of emergency.

I urge all Tenth Congressional District residents to continue to monitor Sandy’s possible track and to take precautionary steps until the threat of landfall has passed.  Please stay safe and as always if you have any questions or concerns please contact my staff at one of my District Offices, which will be staffed through the storm:

Quincy District Office: 617-770-3700

Plymouth District Office: 508-746-9000

Hyannis District Office: 508-771-0666

Hurricane Preparedness:

• Be sure to have a well-stocked Family Disaster Kit in the event you lose power or are isolated for a number of days.
• Clear clogged rain gutters. This storm brings the potential for torrential rain. Providing clear drainage will help prevent misdirected flooding.
• Secure outdoor items such as lawn furniture, trash barrels, hanging plants, toys and awnings that can be broken or picked up by strong winds and potentially become a projectile.
• Elevate articles in your basement that could be damaged from even minor flooding.
• Keep your vehicles fully fuelled.
• Have a certain amount of cash available.  If power is lost, ATMs may not be working.
• Have a number of working flashlights, at least one battery-operated radio and an extra supply of batteries in your home.
• National Grid Customers: Post National Grid’s toll-free emergency outage reporting number—800-465-1212—near your telephone so it will be handy if needed.  Calling the company if you experience an outage can expedite restoration. 
• NSTAR Customers: Please visit www.nstar.com/residential/storm_center/generator.asp for information about important generator safety. During the storm, should your power go out, you can report it by calling N-Star at 800-592-2000. A map depicting outages across nstars service territory is also available at http://outagemap.nstar.com/outage/OutageMap.aspx

Ping4alerts!:

MEMA encourages smartphone users to download the free ping4alerts! app. This app is available for iPhone and Android phones and receives severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service and emergency