FEMA prepares for Hurricane Lee to reach New England

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — Much of Hurricane Lee’s impact is still up in the air ahead of the weekend.

In New Bedford officials have already announced closures to its beaches, boat launches, and possibly the airport.

Rhode Island has been preparing for Hurricane Lee all week after days of storms, flooding, and tornadoes.

The main impacts of Lee are expected to start Friday night, and FEMA is already gearing up for the storm.

“Liters of water, food as needed, cots for sheltering and support as needed,” FEMA Press Secretary Jeremy Edwards said. “Now again, these are all things that we want to pre-position.” 

For all of Southern New England, advice from officials stays the same: stay inside unless you’re told otherwise, and if an evacuation order is given, know where you’re supposed to go.

“Hopefully, we won’t have to use them right, hopefully everything’s going to be relatively low-key and low impact, so we want to make sure that we have that stuff in a good space where we need it so we can get it to where we need to go,” Edwards continued.

Residents have seen hurricane damage before, and they’re not taking any chances.

“I lived here through Hurricane Bill down on the other side of the high rises, down here, down the street,” local Raymond Guimont said. “I lived right across the street from the hurricane deck. I watched this hurricane deck when I was a kid.”

FEMA staff have also reached out to New England governors, letting them know help is available if needed.

“The FEMA administrator has already spoken to the governor of Rhode Island as well as the governors of Maine and Massachusetts to make sure that they know that we are here and ready to support them as needed,” Edwards said.

He added that having a regional office in Boston should help with any response.

“We have smaller area offices in the various states, so we have staff on the ground that are ready to roll if needed,” Edwards continued.

Officials said. clearer picture of how Lee will impact the region will should become available by Friday afternoon.

New Bedford is also considering closing the hurricane barrier navigation gate, depending on what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommends, and FEMA remains on standby for whatever may come this weekend.

“You know, there’s nothing you can do, you can’t control nature,” Guimont said. “When it hits you it’s gonna hit you and you just prepare for the worst.”