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What If Scenarios, Can Fairfield County Evacuate?


by turfgrrl


September 11th, 2007 · 7 Comments

The Advocate has a report on evacuation plans. I’ll summarize the answer to the hypothetical question of could Fairfield County evacuate in a mega disaster. No.

Questions remain about how lower Fairfield County residents could be evacuated to neighboring New York state. And many state and municipal officials question their abilities to move people on Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway - two roads that are congested on normal days.

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“They have identified some things for which we don’t have eloquent solutions for,” Greenwich First Selectman Jim Lash said. “We know we can’t put everyone on I-95.”

Because emergency evacuations will be handled on a case-by-case basis, it’s not only difficult to determine how many people need to move out of the region, there’s also uncertainty about the materials needed to move them, said Al Fiore, Westport’s police chief.

“The bigger challenge is the resources you’re going to need,” Fiore said. “You only have so many police cars, traffic cones and jersey barriers. It’s going to be a challenge.”

The state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, with representatives from different municipalities, started working on the evacuation plan two years ago. The plan was initiated after a pair of hurricanes battered the Gulf Coast region and it was difficult to evacuate residents from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

In addition to defining the routes for evacuating residents in an emergency, the plan also would help determine the proper state-to-town and town-to-town communications.

“We definitely have to compliment the people working on this at the local level,” said Wayne Sanford, deputy commissioner of the department. “No one has told us yet that this can’t be done.”

After regular meetings, a draft was created last year and the plan was published earlier this year - though no one believes the final draft is truly finished.

My extensive research is based on main roads, rush hour any town in area. I once spent 7 hours driving from Greenwich to Trenton on my way to DC one year. That mega disaster then was called Memorial Day weekend.

Until we have a working plan that actually moves commuters in and out of our towns, we will be unlikely to move evacuees.

source: The Advocate, Evacuation plan has holes, By Mark Ginocchio, September 11, 2007

Tags: In the News

7 Responses so far ↓ “What If Scenarios, Can Fairfield County Evacuate?”



  • 1 MGeake // Sep 11, 2007 at 8:20 am

    A related issue near and dear to my heart is our inability to evacuate seniors and the disabled. We don’t have a comprehensive list of those who may need assistance in a “mega disaster”, and they will likely have no way to summon help when all lines of communication are lying on the ground. They will be, quite simply, on their own.

    I have been so concerned about this that almost two years ago I wrote an ordinance creating a Norwalk commission on the rights and needs of the disabled, a logical repository for such information. It took a lap or two through the committees, but it has since languished.

  • 2 #13 of the Miserable 25 // Sep 11, 2007 at 8:25 am

    It was always my impression that in the event of lets say a Tsunami or huge hurricane, that it was always best to head inland to high ground and get away from the coastal areas. What we have are the Connecticut Thruway and the Merritt Pkwy which both run practically parallel with the coast. Route 7 heads directly inland but lets say that in an emergency evacuation that road does not even EXIST. We are trapped on the coast by a series of small roads. Even making it to Rt 8 is a practically a non starter. The only road that would have helped would have been SUPER 7. So if you hear that a 100 foot Tsunami heading our way, just pull out your beach chair, put on your sunglasses, go down the beach, sit back and enjoy the sight of something that you will never see again.

  • 3 #13 of the Miserable 25 // Sep 11, 2007 at 9:08 am

    Turfy, Sorry no 2 headed fleas today.

  • 4 Mr Greenpeace // Sep 11, 2007 at 10:51 am

    a report by the EPA suggests we as a city of Norwalk would have to evacuate over 75,000 people in case of a problem at King industries,of course it would be the worst case scenario, figuer if the state is almost there with their plans where is Norwalks I missed it in the article today,,figure with a tank farm going in as well we as a city have a whole plan in someones desk,,the fire chief saw nothing wrong wityh the tank farm, i asume his evacuation plan is sufficient what about the plan for Kings who has it and who implements it?

    Nice article in the Advocate now what about Norwalk?

  • 5 nwlknative // Sep 11, 2007 at 11:22 am

    Mr. Greenpeace, you keep mentioning this “tank farm” with such gloom and doom. I was always under the impression that oil wasn’t as volatile as chemicals or propane gas. I would be much more worried about the propane tank farm just off of MLK Boulevard and very close to public housing - which you never seem to mention. Is there a plan for evacuation there? Probably not. In any case, I think we would all be in trouble if there was ever a major disaster in town - too many people, too few evacutation routes.

  • 6 #13 of the Miserable 25 // Sep 11, 2007 at 11:24 am

    There was a scene in one of the Star Trek movies, where the Enterprise had destroyed an alien battle cruiser. It showed the control deck of the alien space ship and a junior officer was saying to his captain as the ship was about ready to explode;

    “What do we do now, Captain?”

    His response was.

    “WE DIE.”

  • 7 Mr Greenpeace // Sep 11, 2007 at 12:04 pm

    its whats in the ground nwlknative that bothers me go look at the site later now that its rained you will find pockets of water sitting there turning color..

    Its funny its just not oil correct? kerosene,bunker oil, ect many types of heating fuel, ever go in a tank full of bottoms? how do dispose of it,,I guess unless your on the inside of the fence, inside a tank you couldn’t imagine what transpires in a tank farm far from what was said at any meetings,,you simply don’t set it up and pump and transfer product without maintenance.

    You mention a crogenic tank farm accross the street, they have i assume mercury lead and chromium by products but not as bad a the power plant, they are using new processes to expel even more tons of pollutants out of its stack in the name of clean air,,all legal all allowed by the EPA.

    Your right about not mentioning the plant never worked on that site but closed yankee gas plants down in other areas of the country , the ground afterwoods is nothing but a pile of hazards ,

    The fire chief said no issues that would mean the size of the water supply going into a tank farm or like the one accross the street is sufficient anyone verify that fact yet? The water is of course for fire suppression, and foam would be set up where you are so close to housing there would be that plan i trust.

    then the coast gaurd has signed off on a plan for water runnoff into the sea,,just like they did for the gas plant correct,,

    I have stayed silent for a reason…

    one thing we haven’t seen is some investigative reporting on whats on the EPA site regrading South Norwalk or even the superfund site which by the way is where in cleanup near our water supply?

    It takes someone with the ability to read into facts and apply them to us the residents,

    Tim Stelloh from the Advocate does well his last couple of articles on Oyster park , vets Park and the power station trasmission line leaking product seemed to go ontio deaf ears,,what political candidate knows anything about dirty dirt, storm drain hazardous disposal of product and so on,,I bet there are colors coming out of most streams now that it has rained into Norwalk river,,who cares who hsa taken this issue up

    figure with an oyster festival , and our own seaport organization , with many fishermen and boats and ever our own off the pier for recreation the last thing we all want is bad pr in the river or harbour,,but if it continues to be unchecked and looked over it may become a problem ,,to those who trust its being taken care of.

    where was the followup on oil into Norwalk river and where did you read what we as a city did after finding the source of petroleum in a storm darin a 1/4 mile from water?

    so when i see a tank farm going in where it may be trouble for the environment I ask where is the brownfeild report the one that may say hey look somewhere else better suited for a site,,

    we got this grant to do site assessment , is it going to be where contractors and builders profit while other places other than just South Norwalk has problems

    honestly some of those grants given have revealed brownfields in other cities, they have fenced in some , started to work on some and received additional aid to clean up and isolate problems while money is avaialable,,i am still waiting to see a report here in Norwalk,,anyone else seen it?

    I have seen and visited sites that got grant money after us so whats the holdup here politics? i hope not what are we waiting for the fancy buildings to be put up while areas of concern are being sidestepped i trust no one can’t you tell

    look at what happens around here, a gas pipe breaks on west street, news reports city officials are making them board up the green house ,,yes weeks ago did it get done? No why not who is charge here..

    its simple we can’t find Waldo..

    If we can’t find Waldo how are we going to find some amswers to more complex isues

    the old police station report,,bottom line how much do we need to remove it?

    so the gas plant is not on my priority list , does anyone else have a list?

    I say this with a smile nwlknative i ahve always enjoyed your postings :)

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