Looking back on Hurricane Irene, it really didn’t happen too long ago. It was an eight day hurricane that started on August 20, 2011 and ended on August 28, 2011, which was around the time that we all remember when it hit us in Connecticut. And the truth was, we really didn’t get the worst part of the hurricane either. Even though the hurricane caused the first day of school to be canceled, when the storm got to Cheshire, it was actually starting to die down and was hardly what it used to be early on. Even so, the storm still caused some major damages in Connecticut anyway. Throughout Connecticut, 20 homes in East haven were destroyed and 5 more beyond repair along the Long Island Sound. In addition, and estimated half the state, that’s about 750,000 people lost their power for up to a week during and after the storm.

Weather is certainly unpredictable and sometimes very devastating. One of that last things that people in Cheshire would expect to happen is for a hurricane to hit. Even inland in a place like Cheshire, a storm like this can cause a lot of damage. That is why is is extremely important to be prepared for something like this to happen. Just having a generator when something like this hits can save you from days without power. To watch out, and keep track of storms like these easily, all you have to do is watch the weather channel on TV, weather reports on the computer, or even when power and cable are out, you can still tune into an emergency weather broadcasting channel on a radio.

~David Amann