Public Hearing to be Held Next Week on Natural Disaster Plan

Residents of Somers, Ellington and 28 other towns in Hartford County are encouraged to attend a public hearing next week on a regional disaster response plan.

The Capitol Region Council of Governments, along with assistance from 30 municipalities in the Hartford area, is currently updating their Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, which is a plan that outlines how the region and its cities and towns would work to lessen or prevent the impacts of flooding, hurricanes, winter storms and other natural hazards on our communities.

Somers First Selectman Lisa Pelligrini said the plan is to help determine what the towns should be doing now before something happens and using past experience to do that. Each town provides input, and Pelligrini said she has been working on Somers' version of the plan along with the town engineer and the deputy director of public works.

According to the Somers portion of the plan, flooding is outlined as a concern in the town, with the National Flood Insurance Program having paid to-date 10 property damage claims in totaling $243,412. 

The Somers version outlines what the impacts could be from such a massive event like the Hurricane of 1938. As an example, it could likely cost over $83 million in economic losses and $30 million in residential building losses, the plan detailed.

"Our team in Somers feels really good about this plan and believes that the work we do in the next five years will greatly benefit the town and the residents by reducing the impact of natural hazards," Pelligrini said.

There will be two separate public hearings. The first is on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St.

The second is on Wednesday, Oct. 2, beginning at 7 p.m., at the Enfield Town Hall Council Chambers, 820 Enfield St.

Written comments may be submitted by Oct. 11 to: CRCOG, 241 Main St., Hartford, CT 06106 or via email at: lpikedisanto@crcog.org.