September 2011 - A Final Goodnight to Irene

Hurricane Irene played havoc with the basement at SoundWaters Coastal Center. She caused nearly four feet of flood waters that knocked over storage shelves, uprooted aquarium pumps, and seeped into boxes, rubber boots and microscopes. But Team SoundWaters came to the rescue.

Fortunately Long Island Sound creatures are hardy, and although we lost a few, most of our animals survived the ordeal.

With power and phones out for five days, we devoted our energy to hauling everything out of the basement. The Center staff and Schooner crew slogged through the damp basement, often with just flashlights or batter-operated emergency lights to clear the way. We cleaned and dried most of what could be saved and tossed what couldn't---filling four dumpsters with stuff that had been stored. Some items had not been used for a decade. The spectacular weather after the hurricane made our work much easier, and we realized by week's end that this was a task well overdue.

The second week, our educators assembled new shelves and returned the items. The result is a clean, dry and organized lower level.

The Schooner SoundWaters and the crew found refuge inside the Hurricane Barrier on the East Branch of Stamford Harbor, where they were secured to a barge. The ship took on rain and wind, but no damage as our fearless crew stayed aboard throughout the storm. The following day, a blustery wind from the NW brought a fine covering of sand from the barges that had protected it through the night. After a couple days of cleaning, the ship was ready to sail again to its fall docking space at Avalon Marina in Stamford.

And the clean-up came just in time. The fall calendar is filled with school groups ready to engage in hands-on science activities both here at the Center and on the Schooner. Irene's visit resulted in unintended, but positive consequences: Disasters make for terrific team-building opportunities and for us, to literally take stock. The last of the dumpsters was just carted away, and the basement is now open for public viewing.

Regards,

Leigh Shemitz, Ph.D.
Executive Director
SoundWaters