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.

Rain Rain Go Away....

"Come on back another day!"... or at least that is what I heard the town folk were singing along the wetlands. The Rain is coming in like a Lion ahead of those infamous "April Showers." Perhaps we can start April with the old proverb that it will be a "deluvian" month.

But the rain is not all bad news for some. Especially those in the cleaning and restoration business. Many homeowners who have fallen victim to flooding are expected to file insurance claims. Those insurance claims will soon translate to a period of robust business for those in the cleaning restoration, and construction business.

The birds down at Duck Pond appear to be very happy as well as their pond has risen up over the grass and well into the area once occupied by public onlookers of the wonderful scenery that depicts Milford's waterfront.

The rain is not expected to stop for at least another day or two. The especially wet weather is expected to deliver several months of seasonal rain in just a few days. The city will also be busy down in Devon closing roads, and pumping water from flood zones.

Hopefully all of you who live in low lying areas have already taken the time to check the condition of your bilge pumps and emergency flood control in your basements. Remember that somethings insurance cannot replace.

Mischief Night Causes Angry Kids To Go Wild

Each year the night before Halloween is known as "mischief night" or a day of rebellion for the cities youth. Up in my part of the woods I sat perched on my front porch trying to defend my property from the roaming gangs of kids skulking around my development.

This year was especially more destructive than usual. Normally the neighborhood kids just throw eggs, and decorate trees with toilet paper, some even like to steal a pumpkin and smash it in the street, but some "rotten apples" crossed the line when their pranks became outright destruction of personal property.

My personal development suffered a spray painted gazebo, destroyed mailboxes, and the brand new fence at the developments entrance was severely damaged resulting in substantial repair costs.

The front of my house bears the scars of tire treads burned into the asphalt in a circular motion and a black jeep was driving recklessly through stop signs while assaulting anyone they could find on the street with eggs.

The police eventually arrived, and what they were able to accomplish was certainly questionable. Usually when a clearly marked police car enters anywhere, all it does is causes the gangs of wild youths to scamper off into the shadows of parentless houses only to re-emerge after the cops are gone.

When I was in High School, I personally defended my neighborhood. If we saw "hoodlooms" pulling up in a car and damaging our property the car they got out of would have had rocks thrown through its windows. The bigger kids would have kicked dents in the doors and if we are able to catch one of the vandals he would have become a victim instead of a victimizer.

Part of what I am wondering is wether or not the kids in the neighborhood are doing this damage to their own community or defending it? I would also like to know if there is any high school kid upset enough to do their own investigation and find out who hit Lexington Green?

This night certainly must have been riddled with complaints. Petty crime statistics are high and it is my guess that the police on this night could not have possibly made it to every call in a timely fashion.

While personally I encourage healthy fun, and kids being out and off their Xboxes, and Playstations, this sort of behavior is not what comes to mind. Hopefully parents, next year, will know better than to let their problematic kids even leave their homes on the eve of Halloween.

Next year I also plan to help the local Police by organizing a neighborhood watch to make sure that these rowdy youth are deterred from doing more damage to our peaceful community. Anyone with information, or is interested in becoming part of the solution in my neighborhood please feel free to e-mail me at: frank@mycomputerfox.com

(Above Photo shows total destruction of an $8,000.00 Fence)

Milford Educates Public On Blight Ordinance

The city’s anti-blight ordinance went into effect at the end of September, and top city officials want to educate the public on what to do if they believe they encounter blight in their neighborhoods.

According to the code, violators will have to pay a $100-a-day fine for blight violations. Health Director A. Dennis McBride said the fines will be levied if homeowners do not respond to notices from the city.

McBride said the new code will be used in addition to state regulations, health codes and building codes.

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