Good Grades for Town Performance During Irene

Mansfield's , , and personnel scored mostly A-plus ratings from the public, selectmen, and Town Manager Bill Ross after the area was clobbered by Hurricane Irene last weekend.

But Ross told the board Wednesday he and staff are not content to bask in the praise from their own hometown as well as nearby communities, whose residents came to Mansfield to plug in, eat up, and buy ice.

Ross said the storm's intensity did what such events always do - it uncovered weaknesses in the system that can be corrected before another deluge fells trees and cuts power.

"We need to concentrate on communication," Ross told the board in a review of the complex procedures that were set in place both before and during the storm.

Ross said weaknesses in the linkages in communications systems among town departments were exposed, including in the power supply to computerized communications equipment at .

Ross said involving the early in the process could go a long way towards identifying elders and others who have special needs and said more communications with the school system would be critical at a time when schools were actually in session.

Ross called two separate "pre-storm planning" sessions that brought together all pertinent town departments as the storm approached. A storm center was then established at the highway garage, and staffing was set in place as the storm blew closer to town.

"We had radios, and we tied into GIS," he said, adding food and water were brought into several locations so that crews could fuel up as they worked.

"At one point, we had an estimated 4,000 people out of power," he said.

Falling trees on Otis Street took out three circuits, and similar events on West Street compounded the problem Sunday afternoon and evening, but Ross reported power had been restored in that West Mansfield area by the next morning.

"By late Tuesday and early Wednesday, everyone was back up with power," he said. He made a personal appearance as crews sawed apart trees on Otis Street late Sunday afternoon and watched as linemen swayed above the road in aerial buckets to get the lines back up.

"It was a frightening experience," he said. "Those are brave individuals up there."

Ross also took advantage of the newest technology to have staff set up a Facebook page on the storm's progress, and commented when the power is out and cable is black, people still have their cell phones and can get information that way. Tweets are the next phase, he said, admitting he knows little about either information program yet.

Selectmen commented they had received many messages of praise and appreciation from both Mansfield residents and others who came to town when their communities were still without electricity. As a side benefit, many Mansfield restaurants and businesses actually saw an unexpected surge in customers because their power was on and they could operate normally.

Ross said because he declared an official emergency Sunday, the town will most likely be in line for some state and federal compensation for the cost of the storm.