Flooding started occurring Monday morning at low-lying areas around Darien, although no widespread power outages were reported by Connecticut Light & Power.
In a taped message phoned to town residents through Darien's "Code Red" system, First Selectman Jayme Stevenson urged residents in low-lying, flood-prone areas to evacuate.
"Residents are urged to stay indoors unless you are evacuating," Stevenson said. "The time to evacuate is NOW if you are in vulnerable areas."
Seagate, Catallpa, Contentment Island, Holly Pond, Five Mile River, Beach Drive and Noroton Bay are areas the town has identified as flooding even before high tide at around noon on Monday.
Code Red message
The following is the text of the Code Red recorded message sent out in a call shortly before noon today to Darien residents who subscribe to the service:
The Town of Darien Emergency Operations Center is in full operation with all emergency and public works personnel ready to respond.
Weather conditions continue to deteriorate. The next two high tide cycles at noon today and midnight tonight are predicted to bring unprecedented tidal surge in excess of 10’ above normal high tide. Wind speeds will be increasing throughout the day to hurricane strength.
We are already experiencing flooding on Seagate, Catallpa, Contentment Island, Holly Pond, Five Mile River, Beach Drive and Noroton Bay. Conditions will only worsen between now and midnight high tide.
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See also: Hurricane Sandy News Center for Darien, a central spot for Darien Patch's coverage of the expected storm. You can bookmark the page and quickly find all of our coverage, organized to help you get to it quicker and easier.
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Residents are urged to stay indoors unless you are evacuating. The time to evacuate is NOW if you are in vulnerable areas. Fire fighters are going door to door in these areas to ask you to leave. When wind speeds reach sustained levels of 50mph or more, all emergency, public works and utility response will be suspended and our personnel will not be able to get to you.
An emergency shelter is open at Darien High School in the lower level gymnasiums. If you evacuate to the shelter, please bring any medical or personal comfort needs for a 24 hour period.
Our dispatch phone lines must stay open so please call 911 for emergencies only.
Please stay home if possible and be safe. Thank you.
