Shelter Was Prepared, Protected 7 Suffield Residents

With Tropical Storm Irene making her exit from Connecticut, Suffield was spared the worst of the destruction, but still has to clean up and deal with some power outages. The emergency center at Suffield High School has shut down but provided a safe haven for a small number of town residents and pets.

The shelter had a peak of seven town residents at one time, along with animals and volunteers. Some stayed overnight due to a lack of electricity at home. The center was prepared with approximately 100 cots to house individuals and families if necessary.

"This is a Vo-Ag facility, so they have the capability of housing animals here," said volunteer Tom Zera. "Some people, if they have animals might be reluctant to use the shelter, so it's good for them to know we have the capability to care for the pets."

The emergency center provided snacks, water and a TV for people to keep up with the latest news reports, or just to unwind.

Volunteer Bob Brooks said the volunteers used ham radios to stay in contact with other emergency personnel statewide.

"We got a tornado, an earthquake last week, now this, its a little bit too much weather for me," Brooks said, joking.

According to the Connecticut Light and Power website, 430 Suffield customers were without power at 6:30 p.m., out of a total 5,991 customers in the town.