Democrats and Republicans Exploit Hurricane for Votes

Politics in Milford amazes me, and as one could expect "no crisis should ever go to waste." Soon after the hurricane hit, both candidates for Mayor, the Republican and the Democrat took to the press to exploit this horrific event for their own political gain. This is not a difficult call to make, because in the past, during the hardships we faced from other natural disasters, including flooding like we have seen in the last week, neither one of them (to my knowledge) ever posted a caring blog or made a loving comment.

Now we have Lawyers with a heart and Politicians with a conscience doing what they do best, posing for pictures and telling heartfelt stories and pretending to have a connection to humanity. I expect to see lots of photographs depicting everything from baby kissing, to posing with municipal celebrities. It will be up to you to guess why. Is it perhaps they have suddenly found Jesus and and are in touch with their kinder gentler spiritual selfless side? or is it election season and they are exploiting your vulnerabilities in exchange for your vote?

Thankfully, and I personally believe, that the people of Milford know the difference between phony politics and genuine sincerity. In my view, sincerity is a long and selfless track record of giving without expectation of a reward. Some of the most selfless heroes I know are Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and my late Grandmother Rose Frank who fed Troops, cared for the sick and injured, and helped rebuild wells in her village in 1943 during the WWII battle for Sicily. She never ran for office and her selfless personality flourished until the day she passed.

There are rare people out there who just light up a room with their sincerity, their kindness and their generosity. It is a phenomena that requires no pictures, speaks no words and requires no news coverage. This is because true heroes are discovered by surprise, it is the results of their good deeds that make the news, as is the extent of their impact on the lives of countless greatful others. Heroes are recognized by people like you or me, your friends, your neighbors and in the thoughts and words of the individuals whose lives they changed. Who here, in this city really believes that a couple of mayoral contenders for Mayor realistically and credibly fit this image. 

Humbly I can admit that I am no Gandhi, no Mother Theresa and no saint. What say the rest of our local politicians who now offer good tidings in the wake of a disaster? I say their sincerity is highly suspect in the wake of an upcoming election.. I would love to know your thoughts, do we have genuine sincerity or just a couple of vote grabbing "wind bags?" 

Milford's Fort Trumbull Devastated By Irene

Fort Trumbull this morning was guarded by the Milford Police Department. They were asking drivers not to park in areas that could hinder the ongoing cleanup work.

The streets were covered in Sand as far as the eye could see. Beyond this point is the Silver Sands State Park, of which was also guarded by the state DEP, and was closed to the public.

The devastation included flooding of all low lying structures on both sides of the street and as far as the marsh. The local homes and businesses had water lines as far up as two feet and damaged items were being dragged to the curb. residents were out in force working together to restore their neighborhoods.

The city of Milford was still experiencing wide spread power outages that are going into the second day. Many wires and trees are still down and the Utility companies are feverishly working to correct those outages.

The City of Milford has the Public Works out working long hours, cleaning up city streets and public property. The cost of the cleanup is expected to be substantial. The numbers have not been estimated as of yet but budget strains are to be expected.

The new Boardwalk at Silver Sands State Park is reportedly damaged. Onlookers who explored the area said that the Boardwalk has either been destroyed or buried under the sand making it hard to assess there is even a boardwalk there.

Further to the North Gulf Beach was covered in water, and low lying areas of Woodmont were also submerged in several feet of water. Photo (Left) depicts storm surge on Broadway, an area ordered evacuated by the city of Milford.

Fortunately many inland homes did not suffer substantial wind damage. Some residents boarded up their windows, while others taped asterisk style patterns on their plate glass. There are many reports of downed trees but very few reports of serious wind damage to those homes.

It is estimated that power will be restored in the next few days for all homes across Milford, and the cleanup efforts will be ongoing for several months.

Milford Prepares For Incoming Cat. 1 Hurricane

Winds are going to be high, the Governor has declared a state of emergency and power companies are gearing up for downed power lines. The big department stores have sold out of generators, and local auto parts stores have sold out of their car inverters.

How bad is this storm going to be? No one knows for sure, but estimates are that we will be hit with winds in the range of 50-to 75 Mph. This is especially bad news for those individuals who live on the coast line, as the high tide will only exacerbate flood conditions in the low lying areas of the city. The full force of the storm will coincide with High Tide of which is 10:36P.M. on Sat. Night.

Many homeowners may want to check and see if their home and auto coverage includes water and flood damage and it might be a good idea to make the call to your insurance agent right away.

In the event the city is without power for a sustained period of time, today and tomorrow will be your last chance to stock up on supplies. Most essential are batteries, water, food, ice for the fridge, a radio, and gas for your cars.

To get updates on the latest news and weather related events click this LINK for updated information.

Category 1
Sustained winds	33–42 m/s	64–82 kn	Karen in the water
	119–153 km/h	74–95 mph
Normal central pressure	980–994 mbar	28.94 inHg

Category 1 storms usually cause no significant structural damage to building structures; however, they can topple unanchored mobile homes, as well as uproot or snap trees. Poorly attached roof shingles or tiles can blow off. Coastal flooding and pier damage are often associated with Category 1 storms. Power outages are typically widespread to extensive, sometimes lasting several days. Even though it is the least intense type of hurricane, the storm can still produce plenty of widespread damage and can be a life-threatening storm.^[11]

Examples of storms of this intensity include: Hurricane Alice (1954), Danny (1985), Jerry (1989), Ismael (1995), Claudette (2003), Gaston (2004),Stan (2005) and Humberto (2007).